CN117628720A - Energy storage thermal management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses an energy storage heat management system, which comprises a refrigeration module and a cooling module, wherein the refrigeration module comprises an air floatation centrifugal compressor and a condenser. The air-float centrifugal compressor is used for compressing the refrigerant to form the refrigerant in a first state, the inlet of the condenser is connected to the exhaust port of the air-float centrifugal compressor to cool the refrigerant in the first state to form the refrigerant in a second state, and the temperature in the second state is lower than that in the first state but the pressure is the same. The cooling module is used for radiating the target equipment, the inlet of the cooling module is communicated with the outlet of the condenser, the outlet of the cooling module is communicated with the air inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor, and the inlet is provided with a throttling element. Compared with the traditional energy storage thermal management system, the air-floating centrifugal compressor is adopted as a core component of the energy storage thermal management system, and has the advantages of small volume, light weight, no compressor oil, large refrigerating capacity of the system, high energy efficiency of the system, high reliability of the system and the like.

Description

Energy storage thermal management system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of heat management, in particular to an energy storage heat management system.

Background

Thermal management refers to the management and control of the temperature of the overall system, discrete components, or its environment, with the purpose of maintaining proper operation or improving performance or longevity of the components. Currently, thermal management is generally required in fields such as electrochemical energy storage, and thermal management has a significant impact on the performance, lifetime, and safety of energy storage systems. For the energy storage battery, an air cooling or liquid cooling mode can be adopted.

The air cooling and liquid cooling modes adopt the refrigerant to exchange heat with the energy storage battery through an intermediate medium, so that on one hand, the mode inevitably has heat exchange loss, and the energy storage battery with high charge and discharge multiplying power is difficult to meet the effect of rapid cooling. On the other hand, in existing thermal management systems, the circulation of the refrigerant is generally achieved by means of a conventional scroll or rotor compressor, with certain drawbacks as well. In particular, conventional scroll or rotor compressor assemblies typically have a relatively large volume, and in some thermal management systems even two sets of compressor refrigeration systems need to be employed for refrigeration. Meanwhile, the internal parts of the traditional vortex or rotor compressor have the defect of friction during operation, so that the requirements on the cleanliness of other parts in the system are high, and the reliability of the system operation is poor. In addition, in order to improve reliability, the traditional vortex or rotor compressor also needs compressor oil to lubricate and seal, so that the cost of the compressor oil is increased, and after the compressor oil enters the system, the compressor oil can be mutually dissolved with the refrigerant to influence the heat exchange of the refrigerant, so that the refrigerating capacity of the system is directly reduced by more than 5%.

In addition, most of the existing energy storage thermal management systems are that one set of cooling device corresponds to one set of equipment to be cooled, so that a plurality of sets of cooling devices are required to be arranged for a plurality of sets of equipment to be cooled.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of some or all of the problems in the prior art, the present invention provides an energy storage thermal management system, comprising:

a refrigeration module for circulation of a refrigerant, comprising:

an air-floating centrifugal compressor for compressing a refrigerant to form a first state refrigerant; and

a condenser having an inlet connected to an exhaust port of the air-floating centrifugal compressor and configured to cool the refrigerant in the first state to form a refrigerant in a second state, the second state having a temperature lower than the first state but a same pressure; and

and the inlet of the cooling module is communicated with the outlet of the condenser, the outlet of the cooling module is communicated with the air inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor, a throttling element is arranged at the inlet of the cooling module, and the cooling module is used for radiating heat of target equipment.

Further, the refrigeration module further comprises a bypass valve connected between the air inlet and the air outlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor.

Further, the refrigeration module further includes:

an economizer, the main path inlet of which is connected with the outlet of the condenser, the main path outlet of which is connected with the inlet of the cooling module, and the auxiliary path outlet of which is connected with the air supplementing inlet of the air flotation centrifugal compressor; and

an auxiliary throttling element having an inlet connected to the main outlet of the economizer and an outlet connected to the auxiliary inlet of the economizer.

Further, the cooling module includes:

the first direct cooling plate is arranged on the first side of the target equipment and comprises a first inlet and a first outlet, the first inlet is connected to the outlet of the condenser, and a first throttling element is arranged at the first inlet; and

the second direct cooling plate is arranged on a second side of the target equipment opposite to the first side of the target equipment and comprises a second inlet and a second outlet, the second inlet is connected to the outlet of the condenser, and a second throttling element is arranged at the second inlet, wherein the fluid flow direction in the second direct cooling plate is opposite to the fluid flow direction in the first direct cooling plate.

Further, the cooling module comprises an evaporator, the evaporator is arranged at the target equipment, an inlet of the evaporator is communicated with an outlet of the condenser, an outlet of the evaporator is communicated with an air inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor, and a throttling element is arranged at the inlet of the evaporator.

Further, the cooling module includes:

a main path throttling element connected to an outlet of the condenser; and

and the evaporator is connected in parallel, each evaporator is arranged at one target device, a branch throttling element is respectively connected between the inlet of each evaporator and the main throttling element, and the outlet of each evaporator is communicated with the air inlet of the air floatation centrifugal compressor.

Further, the cooling module includes:

a coolant circuit for circulation of a coolant to cool the target device, including a water pump; and

and the intermediate heat exchange device is respectively communicated with the refrigeration module and the cooling liquid loop so as to realize heat exchange between the cooling liquid and the refrigerant, so that the refrigerant can cool the cooling liquid.

Further, the coolant loop includes a plurality of coolant branches, and each coolant branch is parallelly connected to be set up, and every coolant branch is used for dispelling the heat for a target equipment, and every coolant branch all includes a water pump, the export of water pump is connected to through the check valve intermediate heat transfer device.

Further, the throttling element comprises an electronic expansion valve.

Further, the energy storage thermal management system further comprises at least one temperature sensor and at least one pressure sensor, wherein the temperature sensor and/or the pressure sensor are/is arranged at an exhaust port and/or an air inlet and/or an air supplementing inlet of the air flotation centrifugal compressor and/or an inlet and/or an outlet of the cooling module.

Further, the energy storage heat management system further comprises a first fan arranged at the condenser and used for introducing normal-temperature air into the condenser to realize heat exchange.

Further, the energy storage heat management system further comprises a second fan arranged at the evaporator.

Further, the air-floating centrifugal compressor includes:

an electric machine, comprising:

a first chamber and a second chamber are respectively arranged at two ends of the inner part of the shell; and

the rotor is provided with an air-floating radial bearing, the end part of the rotor is provided with a thrust disc, and one side or two sides of the thrust disc are provided with air-floating thrust bearings;

an impeller disposed at an end of the rotor and located within the first and/or second chambers;

an air inlet in communication with the air inlet of the first chamber;

an exhaust port in communication with the air outlet of the second chamber;

the two ends of the connecting pipe are respectively communicated with the air outlet of the first chamber and the air inlet of the second chamber; and

and the air supplementing inlet is arranged on the connecting pipe.

Compared with the electric vortex compressor of the traditional automobile air conditioning system, the electric high-speed air-floating centrifugal compressor has the advantages of small volume, light weight, no compressor oil, high reliability of the compressor and the system and large refrigerating capacity of the system. Specifically, the bearing and the motor shaft of the electric high-speed air-bearing centrifugal compressor are not contacted when the electric high-speed air-bearing centrifugal compressor is in operation, so that the bearing is small in abrasion and long in service life. In addition, the electric high-speed air-floating centrifugal compressor is a high-speed permanent magnet synchronous motor, and has high power density and small volume and mass. Meanwhile, an internal circulation dynamic pressure air bearing is adopted, an additional air supplementing pipeline is not needed, the structure is simple and reliable, an intermediate pipe air supplementing hole can be additionally arranged, interstage cooling is conveniently realized, and the power consumption of the compressor is reduced. In addition, electronic high-speed air supporting centrifugal compressor has adopted closed impeller, and is provided with sealed tooth in the shell inner wall face, can also reduce leakage and backward flow loss, further promotes compressor pneumatic efficiency. Based on the electric high-speed air-floating centrifugal compressor, the electric high-speed air-floating centrifugal compressor can be matched with multiple different system scheme designs such as air cooling, liquid cooling, air supplementing, bypass, multiple connection, centralized and the like, and has wide application range. The direct cooling structure of the battery cell can effectively avoid heat exchange loss of the traditional system, improve energy efficiency of the system, and enable the upper cooling plate and the lower cooling plate to adopt opposite flowing structures, so that temperature uniformity of the energy storage battery can be better realized. In addition, the throttling element is arranged in front of the cooling module, so that the cooling capacity can be generated faster, and the instantaneous heat dissipation requirement of the energy storage battery during rapid charge and discharge can be met better.

Drawings

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of embodiments of the present invention, a more particular description of embodiments of the invention will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. In the drawings, for clarity, the same or corresponding parts will be designated by the same or similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a thermal management system for storing energy according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of an energy storage cell according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a direct-cooled energy storage thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a thermal energy storage management system with bypass valve for an air-cooled scheme according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an energy storage thermal management system with bypass valve and air-cooled scheme of air-make-up structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a basic multiple air-cooled scheme energy storage thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of a thermal energy storage management system with a bypass valve multi-connected air cooling scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a multi-connected air-cooled energy storage thermal management system with bypass valve and air make-up structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a basic liquid cooling scheme energy storage thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a thermal management system for energy storage with bypass valve for a liquid cooling scheme according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a thermal management system with bypass valve and air make-up configuration for liquid cooling scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a thermal management system for energy storage with a liquid cooling scheme for a multi-branch cold source with a bypass valve according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a heat management system for energy storage with a multi-branch cooling scheme with bypass valve and air make-up structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 14a-14e show schematic structural views of an air-bearing centrifugal compressor in different embodiments of the invention.

List of reference numerals

100. Target device

001. Air-float centrifugal compressor

002. Condenser

003. Cooling module

004. First fan

005. Throttling element

006. Bypass valve

007. Economizer device

008. Auxiliary throttling element

200. Energy storage battery

201. Battery cell

202. First direct cooling plate

203. Second direct cooling plate

241. First throttling element

242. Second throttling element

401. Evaporator

402. Second fan

403. Branch throttling element

901. Intermediate heat exchange device

902. Water pump

903. One-way valve

011. Air bearing

012. Impeller wheel

013. Rotor

014. Thrust disc

015. Thrust bearing

Detailed Description

In the following description, the present invention is described with reference to various embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other alternative and/or additional methods, materials, or components. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention. Similarly, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention. However, the invention is not limited to these specific details. Furthermore, it should be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings are illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Aiming at the defects of the existing energy storage thermal management products, the invention adopts the high-speed air-floating centrifugal compressor to replace a vortex or rotor compressor, uses the high-speed air-floating centrifugal compressor as a power source of a refrigerant loop, and simultaneously builds a set of energy storage thermal management system by matching with multiple different system scheme designs such as air cooling, liquid cooling, air supplementing, bypass, multiple connection, centralized and the like.

In an embodiment of the invention, the throttling element, including the first throttling element, the second throttling element, the auxiliary throttling element, the bypass throttling element, etc., refers to a device or element for reducing the gas pressure for evaporation purposes, and may be, for example: expansion valves, capillaries, orifice tubes, etc.

The embodiments of the present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic structure of an energy storage thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the energy storage thermal management system includes a refrigeration module and a cooling module 003. Wherein the refrigeration module is used to provide thermal management, and in particular circulation, of compressed, condensed refrigerant for a target device 100, such as an energy storage battery or the like. The cooling module 003 uses the condensed refrigerant to dissipate heat from the target device. As shown in fig. 1, the refrigeration module includes an air-floating centrifugal compressor 001 and a condenser 002. Wherein the air inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor 001 is communicated with the outlet of the cooling module 003, and is mainly used for compressing the refrigerant to form the refrigerant in the first state. The inlet of the condenser 002 is connected to the exhaust port of the air-floating centrifugal compressor 001, and the outlet is communicated with the inlet of the cooling module 003, so as to cool the refrigerant in the first state to form the refrigerant in the second state, wherein the temperature in the second state is lower than that in the first state, but the pressure is the same. As shown in fig. 1, the high-temperature low-pressure refrigerant after heat exchange with the target device 100 enters the air-floating centrifugal compressor 001 to be compressed, so as to form a first-state refrigerant. In one embodiment of the present invention, in order to improve the refrigeration efficiency, a first fan 004 is further disposed at the fins of the condenser 002, and the first fan 004 introduces normal-temperature air into the fins of the condenser 002, so that heat of the high-temperature refrigerant inside the condenser 002 exchanges heat with air, thereby achieving the purpose of condensation.

When the energy storage heat management system works, firstly, the air floatation centrifugal compressor compresses the refrigerant in a centrifugal mode, the compressed high-temperature refrigerant reaches the condenser through the pipeline, the fan sucks air at normal temperature into the condenser fins, the condenser exchanges heat between heat of the high-temperature refrigerant inside and the air, the condensed refrigerant reaches the throttling element 005, the throttling element 005 throttles the refrigerant, the throttled refrigerant rapidly expands and evaporates, the throttled and expanded refrigerant enters the cooling module 003 to exchange heat with the target equipment 100, the refrigerant absorbs heat generated in the target equipment, accordingly, the target equipment is lowered to an expected temperature, the cooling effect is achieved, and the refrigerant after heat absorption returns to the air floatation centrifugal compressor 001 again.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a bypass valve 006 may also be provided between the inlet and outlet of the air bearing centrifugal compressor 001. Thus, when the energy storage heat management system is in operation, if the bypass valve 006 is opened, a small portion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gas flows to the air inlet of the air-float centrifugal compressor after being throttled to low-temperature and low-pressure gas by the bypass valve 006, and is converged with the compressor return air of the system and flows back to the air-float centrifugal compressor 001.

In one embodiment of the invention, the refrigeration module further includes a make-up assembly comprising an economizer 007 and an auxiliary throttling element 008. Wherein the economizer 007 comprises a main path inlet, a main path outlet, an auxiliary path inlet, and an auxiliary path outlet. Wherein the main inlet is connected with the outlet of the condenser 002, the main outlet is connected with the inlet of the cooling module 003, the auxiliary inlet is connected to the outlet of the auxiliary throttling element 008, and the auxiliary outlet is connected to the air make-up inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor. The inlet of the auxiliary throttling element 008 is then connected to the main outlet of the economizer 007. When the energy storage thermal management system works, after the high-temperature and high-pressure gas is discharged from the air floatation centrifugal compressor 001, the high-temperature and high-pressure gas is condensed into high-temperature and high-pressure liquid in the condenser 002, and exchanges heat with the refrigerant of the auxiliary circuit to further raise the supercooling degree when passing through the economizer 007, so as to ensure that the high-temperature and high-pressure gas is liquid refrigerant, meanwhile, the high-temperature and high-pressure liquid is redirected to a branch circuit through the auxiliary throttling element 008 to become low-temperature and low-pressure liquid, then exchanges heat with the refrigerant of the main circuit through the auxiliary circuit of the economizer 007 to evaporate into low-temperature and low-pressure gas, and flows to the air supplementing inlet of the air floatation centrifugal compressor, the rest of the high-temperature and high-pressure liquid in the main circuit is throttled into low-temperature and low-pressure liquid in the throttling element 005 further, and flows to the cooling module to perform heat dissipation on the target equipment to form high-temperature and low-pressure gas, and finally, and the high-temperature and low-pressure gas is redirected to the air floatation centrifugal compressor 001 to be compressed into high-temperature and high-pressure gas in the main circuit, and a small part of the high-temperature and low-pressure gas flows back to the air floatation centrifugal compressor 001 when the bypass valve is opened.

As described above, the refrigeration module using the air-floating centrifugal compressor 001 as a core may be matched with multiple different cooling modules such as air cooling, liquid cooling, multiple connection, centralized cooling, and the like.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of an energy storage cell according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a direct-cooled energy storage thermal management system suitable for use with the energy storage battery of FIG. 2. As shown, an energy storage battery 200 includes an electrical core 201, a first direct cooling plate 202, and a second direct cooling plate 203. The first direct cooling plate 202 is disposed on the first surface of the electric core 201 or a certain distance from the first surface, and includes a first inlet and a first outlet, where the first inlet is connected to the outlet of the condenser 002 as described above, and in one embodiment of the present invention, a first throttling element 241 is further disposed at the first inlet. The second direct cooling plate 203 is disposed on a second surface of the battery cell 201 or a distance from the second surface, wherein the second surface is a surface opposite to the first surface. Similarly, the second direct cooling plate 203 includes a second inlet and a second outlet, the second inlet being connected to the outlet of the condenser 002, and as previously described, a second throttling element 242 is also provided at the second inlet in one embodiment of the invention. In order to avoid the problem of uneven heat dissipation of the energy storage battery, in one embodiment of the present invention, the energy storage battery adopts a structure that upper and lower cold plates enter and exit reversely, that is, the fluid flow direction in the first straight cold plate 202 is opposite to the fluid flow direction in the second straight cold plate 203. This can be achieved by arranging the inlet and outlet of the first and second straight cold plates diametrically opposite, i.e. the second outlet of the second straight cold plate is arranged on the same side as the first inlet of the first straight cold plate and the second inlet is arranged on the same side as the first outlet. Meanwhile, inside the energy storage battery, the inflowing refrigerant can be divided into a plurality of branches according to the quantity and arrangement of the electric cores, each branch is provided with a throttling element, such as an electronic expansion valve, before entering the direct cooling plate, and the opening of the electronic expansion valve is automatically adjusted according to the heat dissipation requirement of each electric core. Through tests, the refrigerant is directly introduced into the energy storage battery through the direct cooling plate, and the refrigerant directly absorbs heat generated by the thermoelectric core, so that the heat exchange efficiency can be improved by more than 5%.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the cooling module adopts an air cooling mode. Specifically, the cooling module includes an evaporator 401 disposed at the target apparatus 100, an inlet of the evaporator 401 communicates with an outlet of the condenser 002, an outlet communicates with an air inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor 001, and a throttle member 005 is disposed at an inlet of the evaporator 401. The high-temperature high-pressure liquid condensed from the condenser is throttled into low-temperature low-pressure liquid by the throttling element, flows into the evaporator to be evaporated into low-temperature low-pressure gaseous refrigerant, exchanges heat with target equipment to realize heat dissipation of the target equipment, and flows into the air floatation centrifugal compressor again to be compressed into high-temperature high-pressure gas. In one embodiment of the invention, a second fan 402 may also be provided at the evaporator.

As previously described, a make-up assembly and/or bypass valve may be added to the refrigeration module based on the air-cooled mode. Fig. 4 and fig. 5 are schematic structural diagrams of an energy storage thermal management system with a bypass valve and an air cooling scheme with a bypass valve and an air supplementing structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a multi-link scheme may also be provided in the air cooling mode, and fig. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of an energy storage thermal management system of a basic multi-link air cooling scheme according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, in the multiple scheme, the cooling module includes a main path throttling element 005 and a plurality of evaporators 401 arranged in parallel. Wherein the main path throttling element is connected to the outlet of the condenser, each evaporator is arranged at one target device to radiate heat to the target device, one branch path throttling element 403 is respectively connected between the inlet of each evaporator and the main path throttling element, and the outlet of each evaporator is communicated with the air inlet of the air floatation centrifugal compressor. Similarly, on the basis of a multi-connection scheme, a gas supplementing assembly and/or a bypass valve can be added to the refrigeration module. Fig. 7 and 8 respectively show a schematic structural diagram of an energy storage thermal management system with a bypass valve and a multi-connected air cooling scheme and an energy storage thermal management system with a bypass valve and an air supplementing structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the invention, the cooling module is in a liquid cooled mode. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a basic liquid cooling scheme energy storage thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 9, when the liquid cooling mode is adopted, the cooling module includes a cooling liquid circuit and an intermediate heat exchanging device 901. Wherein the coolant loop is used for circulation of coolant to cool the target device, and comprises a water pump 902. The intermediate heat exchange device is respectively communicated with the refrigeration module and the cooling liquid loop so as to realize heat exchange between the cooling liquid and the refrigerant, so that the refrigerant can cool the cooling liquid. As shown in fig. 9, the inlet of the water pump 902 is in communication with the coolant outlet of the target device, and the outlet is connected to the cooling side inlet of the intermediate heat exchange device. The higher-temperature cooling liquid passing through the heat source of the target equipment exchanges heat with the refrigerant in the evaporator through the water pump to form lower-temperature cooling water, and then the lower-temperature cooling water can flow into the heat source of the target equipment again to cool the high-temperature target equipment in a heat dissipation mode.

As previously described, a make-up assembly and/or bypass valve may be added to the refrigeration module based on the liquid cooled mode. Fig. 10 and 11 are schematic diagrams respectively showing a liquid cooling scheme energy storage thermal management system with a bypass valve and an air supplementing structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a multi-branch cooling source scheme may be further provided in the liquid cooling mode, that is, the cooling liquid loop may include a plurality of cooling liquid branches, each cooling liquid branch is disposed in parallel, each cooling liquid branch is used for cooling one target device, and each cooling liquid branch includes a water pump, and an outlet of the water pump is connected to the intermediate heat exchange device through a check valve 903. Similarly, on the basis of a multi-branch cold source scheme, a gas supplementing assembly and/or a bypass valve can be added in the refrigeration module. Fig. 12 and 13 are schematic structural diagrams of an energy storage thermal management system of a liquid cooling scheme of a multi-branch cold source with a bypass valve and an air supplementing structure according to an embodiment of the invention.

In order to calculate the refrigeration requirement of the system and thus control the working state of each device or module, and to protect the system from running, in one embodiment of the invention, a temperature sensor T and a pressure sensor P are also arranged in the thermal management system. As shown, the temperature sensor T and the pressure sensor P may be disposed at, for example, an exhaust port and/or an intake port and/or a make-up air inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor and/or an inlet and/or an outlet of the cooling module.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the air-floating centrifugal compressor 001 includes a motor, an impeller, an air inlet, an air outlet, and a connection pipe. The motor includes a rotor system, a stator, and a housing.

Fig. 14a to 14e show schematic structural views of an air-floating centrifugal compressor in different embodiments of the present invention. As shown, the rotor system of the motor comprises a radial air bearing 011, when the motor shaft rotates, the radial air bearing sucks gas to form a gas film to support the rotor to rotate at a high speed, and meanwhile, the thrust bearing (if any) also forms a gas film, so that the thrust shaft is not contacted with the bearing, the bearing is almost free from abrasion, and mechanical loss and noise can be greatly reduced or even eliminated. As shown, the impeller 012 is provided at an end of the rotor 013 for compressing low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant gas from an evaporator to form high-temperature high-pressure refrigerant gas to be discharged into a condenser. Herein, the terms "radial" and "axial" refer to the radial and axial directions of the rotor or its rotational axis. In an embodiment of the invention, the rotor system 013 comprises two radial bearings, which have a certain distance between them and can be symmetrically distributed on the rotor. In one embodiment of the invention, the radial bearing adopts a foil dynamic pressure air bearing, and when gas is introduced into the bearing position, a gas film can be formed, so that the air bearing effect is achieved.

In order to withstand the axial thrust forces generated during operation of the compressor, in one embodiment of the invention, a thrust disc 014 and a thrust bearing 015 are also provided in the rotor system. The thrust disc and thrust bearing are optional. The thrust disc can be arranged at any one end of the rotor, and one thrust disc can be respectively arranged at two ends of the rotor. When only one thrust disc is arranged, one thrust bearing can be respectively arranged on two sides of the thrust disc, and the acting surfaces of the two thrust bearings face the thrust disc, so that axial thrust in different directions can be respectively born, and in particular, the axial thrust directions born by the two thrust bearings are opposite. When two thrust disks are arranged, one thrust bearing can be respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the two thrust disks or two sides far away from the two thrust disks, and the acting surfaces of the two thrust bearings face the thrust disks, so that the two thrust disks can respectively bear axial thrust in different directions, and in particular, the two thrust bearings can bear opposite axial thrust directions. In one embodiment of the invention, the thrust bearing adopts a foil type dynamic pressure air bearing, and when gas is introduced into the bearing position, a gas film can be formed, so that the air bearing effect is achieved.

Furthermore, in various embodiments of the present invention, single, dual or multi-stage impellers may be provided depending on the actual requirements. Specifically, when only a single-stage impeller is provided, the impeller 012 may be provided at either end of the rotor, and the side on which the impeller is provided may be referred to as the high-pressure side, and the side on which the impeller is not provided may be referred to as the low-pressure side. When two stages of impellers are arranged, the two impellers can be respectively arranged at two ends of the rotor, or can be all arranged at any one end of the rotor, when the two impellers are respectively arranged at two ends of the rotor, one side provided with the impeller at the front stage can be marked as a low pressure side, and one side provided with the impeller at the rear stage can be marked as a high pressure side, and when the two impellers are all arranged at one end of the rotor, one side provided with the impeller can be marked as a high pressure side, and one side not provided with the impeller can be marked as a low pressure side. Similarly, when a multistage impeller is provided, the plurality of impellers may be provided at both ends of the rotor in equal or unequal portions, or may be provided at either end of the rotor in total, and when the impellers are provided at both ends of the rotor in total, the side provided with the impeller of the preceding stage may be referred to as the low pressure side, and the side provided with the impeller of the subsequent stage may be referred to as the high pressure side, and when the impellers are provided at one end of the rotor in total, the side provided with the impeller may be referred to as the high pressure side, and the side not provided with the impeller may be referred to as the low pressure side. Based on this, as shown in the figure, when the rotor rotates, a part of the high-pressure gas compressed by the impeller in the main gas path enters the radial bearing on the high-pressure side under the pressure, then enters the radial bearing on the low-pressure side through the air gap between the motor stator and the rotor, and returns to the main gas path. When the thrust disc and the thrust bearing are arranged, the high-pressure gas also passes through the thrust bearing to form a gas film to bear axial thrust. In order to effectively reduce the axial thrust force applied to the thrust bearing, in one embodiment of the present invention, the impeller at the low pressure side and the impeller at the high pressure side are disposed in a back-to-back manner, so that the axial thrust directions of the impellers at the high pressure side and the low pressure side are opposite to each other to cancel each other. In one embodiment of the invention, the impeller is a shrouded impeller. In one embodiment of the invention, the impeller is secured to the rotor by a lock nut.

The two ends of the inside of the shell are respectively provided with a first cavity and a second cavity, and the impeller is arranged in the first cavity and/or the second cavity. The air inlet of the first chamber is communicated with the air inlet of the compressor, and the air inlet is also understood to be the air inlet of the first chamber. A connecting pipe is arranged between the first chamber and the second chamber, and gas flows out from the gas outlet of the first chamber and enters the second chamber through the gas inlet of the second chamber after flowing into the connecting pipe. The air outlet of the second chamber is communicated with the air outlet of the compressor, and the air outlet is the air outlet of the second chamber. In the embodiment of the invention, the air outlets of the first chamber and the second chamber are respectively provided with a first end cover and a second end cover, gaps exist between the first end cover and the second end cover and between the rotor and the impeller, and gas can enter the air bearing from the main air path or return to the main air path from the air bearing through the gaps. In addition, the outside at the both ends of motor still is provided with the shell that presses respectively, press the shell with be provided with the sealing washer between the impeller, the sealing washer can show the backward flow effect that reduces impeller export to import, can further promote compressor efficiency. In order to reduce the compression power consumption of the impeller, in one embodiment of the invention, an interstage air supplementing hole is further arranged on the connecting pipe so as to be connected with exhaust air from the economizer, and the gas is cooled, thereby achieving the purposes of reducing the compression power consumption of the impeller and improving the efficiency of a system.

In one embodiment of the invention, the opening and closing of the air-float centrifugal compressor, the opening of each throttling element, the rotating speed of the fan, the opening of the water pump, the opening of the bypass valve, the opening of the one-way valve and the like can be controlled according to the temperature of target equipment, the pressure and the temperature of the air entering the air-float centrifugal compressor, the pressure and the temperature of the air discharged by the air-float centrifugal compressor, the pressure and the temperature of the cooling liquid and the like, so that the thermal management quality is further ensured.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that various combinations, modifications, and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention as disclosed herein should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims (13)

1. An energy storage thermal management system, comprising:

a refrigeration module configured to circulate a refrigerant, wherein the refrigeration module comprises:

an air-bearing centrifugal compressor configured to compress a refrigerant to form a first state refrigerant; and

a condenser having an inlet connected to an exhaust port of the air-floating centrifugal compressor and configured to cool the refrigerant in the first state to form a refrigerant in a second state, the second state having a temperature lower than the first state but a same pressure; and a cooling module configured to radiate heat from the target device, wherein an inlet of the cooling module is communicated with an outlet of the condenser, an outlet of the cooling module is communicated with an air inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor, and a throttling element is arranged at an inlet of the cooling module.

2. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 1, wherein the refrigeration module further comprises a bypass valve connected between an air inlet and an air outlet of the air bearing centrifugal compressor.

3. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 2, wherein the refrigeration module further comprises:

an economizer, the main path inlet of which is connected with the outlet of the condenser, the main path outlet of which is connected with the inlet of the cooling module, and the auxiliary path outlet of which is connected with the air supplementing inlet of the air flotation centrifugal compressor; and

an auxiliary throttling element having an inlet connected to the main outlet of the economizer and an outlet connected to the auxiliary inlet of the economizer.

4. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 1, wherein the cooling module comprises:

the first direct cooling plate is arranged on the first side of the target equipment and comprises a first inlet and a first outlet, the first inlet is connected to the outlet of the condenser, and a first throttling element is arranged at the first inlet; and

a second direct-cooled plate disposed on a second side of the target device opposite the first side thereof, comprising a second inlet and a second outlet, the second inlet being connected to the outlet of the condenser, and the second inlet being provided with a second throttling element, wherein a fluid flow direction in the second direct-cooled plate is configured to be opposite to a fluid flow direction in the first direct-cooled plate.

5. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 1, wherein the cooling module comprises:

the evaporator is arranged at the target equipment, the inlet of the evaporator is communicated with the outlet of the condenser, the outlet of the evaporator is communicated with the air inlet of the air-floating centrifugal compressor, and a throttling element is arranged at the inlet of the evaporator.

6. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 1, wherein the cooling module comprises:

a main path throttling element connected to an outlet of the condenser; and

and the evaporator is connected in parallel, each evaporator is arranged at one target device, a branch throttling element is respectively connected between the inlet of each evaporator and the main throttling element, and the outlet of each evaporator is communicated with the air inlet of the air floatation centrifugal compressor.

7. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 1, wherein the cooling module comprises:

a coolant loop configured to circulate a coolant to cool the target device, including a water pump; and

and the intermediate heat exchange device is respectively communicated with the refrigeration module and the cooling liquid loop so as to realize heat exchange between the cooling liquid and the refrigerant, so that the refrigerant can cool the cooling liquid.

8. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 7, wherein the coolant loop comprises a plurality of coolant branches, each coolant branch disposed in parallel, each coolant branch configured to dissipate heat for one target device, and each coolant branch comprising a water pump, an outlet of the water pump connected to the intermediate heat exchange device through a one-way valve.

9. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 1 wherein the throttling element comprises an electronic expansion valve.

10. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 1, further comprising at least one temperature sensor and at least one pressure sensor, the temperature sensor and/or pressure sensor being disposed at an exhaust port, and/or an intake port, and/or a make-up inlet, and/or an outlet of the cooling module of the air bearing centrifugal compressor.

11. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 1, further comprising a first fan disposed at the condenser configured to direct ambient air into the condenser to effect heat exchange.

12. The energy storage thermal management system of claim 5 or 6, further comprising a second fan disposed at the evaporator.

13. The thermal management system of claim 1, wherein the air bearing centrifugal compressor comprises:

an electric machine, comprising:

a first chamber and a second chamber are respectively arranged at two ends of the inner part of the shell; and

the rotor is provided with an air-floating radial bearing, the end part of the rotor is provided with a thrust disc, and one side or two sides of the thrust disc are provided with air-floating thrust bearings;

an impeller disposed at an end of the rotor and located within the first and/or second chambers;

an air inlet in communication with the air inlet of the first chamber;

an exhaust port in communication with the air outlet of the second chamber;

the two ends of the connecting pipe are respectively communicated with the air outlet of the first chamber and the air inlet of the second chamber; and

and the air supplementing inlet is arranged on the connecting pipe.