CN217604442U

CN217604442U - Cooling unit and thermal management system

Info

Publication number: CN217604442U
Application number: CN202221331531.5U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 不公告发明人
Original assignee: Chongqing Chaoli Hi Tech Co Ltd
Current assignee: Chongqing Chaoli Hi Tech Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-05-30
Filing date: 2022-05-30
Publication date: 2022-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2032-05-30

Abstract

The application provides a cooling unit and a thermal management system, which relate to the technical field of heat exchange and comprise a refrigerant circulating system, a heat exchanger and a refrigerating fluid circulating system, wherein the refrigerant circulating system is provided with a plurality of parallel branch pipes, and each parallel branch pipe is provided with a compressor for driving a refrigerant to flow; the heat exchanger is provided with a first channel communicated with the refrigerant circulating system and a second channel communicated with the refrigerating fluid circulating system, and refrigerants in the circulating and first channels are used for circulating refrigerating fluid in the second channels. The compressor adopts a redundant design, so that the fault resistance is high, and the safety is high; meanwhile, the service life of the compressor is effectively prolonged along with the long service life of the compressor, and the service life of the whole compressor is prolonged.

Description

Cooling unit and thermal management system

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a heat exchange technology field particularly, relates to a cooling unit and thermal management system.

Background

At present, heat load module for example battery package need carry out the heat dissipation and handle, to the product of the heat management of battery package, current water-cooling unit:

the refrigeration function utilizes a plate heat exchanger (liquid cooling evaporator) to cool the hot antifreeze fluid flowing out of the battery pack through the operation of an air conditioning system, and the cooled hot antifreeze fluid is pumped into the battery pack again through the circulation action of a water pump. The battery pack temperature control device is used for balancing the temperature difference inside the battery pack and reducing the temperature of the battery core.

The heating function heats the low-temperature liquid antifreezing solution in the system through the work of the electric heater, and the heated hot antifreezing solution is pumped into the battery pack again through the circulating action of the water pump, so that the temperature difference in the battery pack is balanced, and the temperature of the battery cell is increased. It should be appreciated that for different usage scenarios, the heating function may be optional (e.g., data center, base station need not be heated);

the normal charging and discharging safety of the battery pack at different environmental temperatures is ensured by the operation of refrigeration and heating, and the service life of the battery cell is prolonged.

The inventor researches and discovers that the existing cooling unit has the following defects:

poor safety, high energy consumption and uneven heat dissipation.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

An object of the utility model is to provide a cooling unit and thermal management system, its security that can improve the operation process.

The embodiment of the utility model is realized like this:

in a first aspect, the present invention provides a cooling unit, including:

the refrigerant circulating system is provided with a plurality of parallel branch pipes, and each parallel branch pipe is provided with a compressor for driving a refrigerant to flow; the heat exchanger is provided with a first channel communicated with the refrigerant circulating system and a second channel communicated with the refrigerating fluid circulating system, and the refrigerant circulating in the first channel is used for circulating the refrigerating fluid in the second channel.

In an alternative embodiment, the refrigerating fluid circulation system comprises a refrigerating fluid flow pipeline, a water pump and a heater, wherein the refrigerating fluid flow pipeline is communicated with the second channel; the water pump and the heater are arranged on the refrigerant flow pipeline; the water pump is used for driving refrigerating fluid to flow in the refrigerating fluid flow pipeline.

In an optional embodiment, the number of the water pumps is multiple and the water pumps are arranged in parallel.

In an alternative embodiment, a first three-way valve is arranged on the refrigerant flow pipeline, one of two outlets of the first three-way valve is communicated with a first branch pipe, the other of the two outlets is communicated with a second branch pipe, and the ends, far away from the first three-way valve, of the first branch pipe and the second branch pipe are converged; and the first branch pipe and the second branch pipe are respectively provided with a water pump.

In an alternative embodiment, the number of heaters is multiple and arranged side by side.

In an alternative embodiment, a second three-way valve is disposed on the refrigerant flow line, and a heater is disposed on each of two branches of the second three-way valve.

In an optional embodiment, the refrigerating fluid circulation system further comprises an air cooling pipeline, two ends of the air cooling pipeline are respectively communicated with the refrigerating fluid flowing pipeline, and the refrigerating fluid flowing pipeline is located at two ends of the air cooling pipeline and communicated with the second channel.

In an alternative embodiment, the air cooling line and the refrigerant flow line communicate through a third three-way valve.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a thermal management system, comprising:

a heat load module and the cooling unit of any one of the preceding embodiments, the heat load module having a storage chamber for storing a chilled liquid; the refrigerating fluid circulating system is communicated with the storage cavity.

In an alternative embodiment, the thermal load module is a battery pack module.

The embodiment of the utility model provides a beneficial effect is:

in summary, the cooling unit provided in this embodiment sets up the number of compressors as a plurality of, that is, the compressor is designed redundantly for the important part in the refrigeration system, and during the operation of the cooling unit, the normal cooling operation of the battery pack can be realized by one of the plurality of compressors. When the running compressor fails and can not normally work, the standby compressor in the plurality of compressors can participate in the work, so that the compressor which can not normally work is replaced, the normal operation of the cooling unit is ensured, and the safety is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without inventive efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a battery pack thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An icon:

100-refrigerant circulation system; 101-refrigerant flow line; 1011-input pipe section; 1012-output pipe section; 110-branch pipe; 120-a compressor; 130-drying bottle; 140-a pressure sensor; 150-a heat sink; 160-a condenser; 200-a heat exchanger; 300-refrigerating fluid circulation system; 310-a chilled liquid flow line; 311-a first main tube segment; 312 — a first branch; 313-a second branch; 314-a second main tube section; 320-air cooling pipeline; 330-a water pump; 340-a heater; 400-three-way valve; 500-heat load module.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. The components of embodiments of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.

Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, as presented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the invention. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art without creative efforts belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be further defined and explained in subsequent figures.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate the position or positional relationship based on the position or positional relationship shown in the drawings, or the position or positional relationship which is usually placed when the product of the present invention is used, and are only for convenience of description and simplification of the description, but do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific position, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used solely to distinguish one from another and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Furthermore, the terms "horizontal", "vertical" and the like do not imply that the components are required to be absolutely horizontal or pendant, but rather may be slightly inclined. For example, "horizontal" merely means that the direction is more horizontal than "vertical" and does not mean that the structure must be perfectly horizontal, but may be slightly inclined.

In the description of the present invention, it should also be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "disposed," "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

At present, a single compressor 120 is used in a refrigerant circulation loop of a cooling unit, the compressor 120 serves as a system power core component, when the operation of the compressor 120 is blocked or the output capacity is insufficient, the system operation is easy to be abnormal, the refrigeration function of the whole unit is affected, the battery charging and discharging functions are affected, and the battery pack is in thermal runaway and fire catching in serious cases, so that the safety is low.

In view of this, the designer designs a cooling unit, and the compressors 120 adopt a redundant design, so that after a certain compressor 120 is damaged, the damaged compressor 120 can be replaced by the spare compressor 120, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the cooling unit and improving the safety.

Referring to fig. 1, in the present embodiment, a cooling unit includes a refrigerant circulation system 100, a heat exchanger 200, and a refrigerant circulation system 300, where the refrigerant circulation system 100 is provided with a plurality of parallel branch pipes 110, and each of the parallel branch pipes 110 is provided with a compressor 120 for driving a refrigerant to flow; the heat exchanger 200 has a first channel communicated with the refrigerant circulation system 100 and a second channel communicated with the refrigerant circulation system 300, and the refrigerant in the first channel is used for circulating the refrigerant in the second channel.

It should be noted that the cooling unit may be applied to the cooling and heating operations of the thermal load module, and the thermal load module includes, but is not limited to, a battery pack module. In this embodiment, the cooling unit is applied to the battery pack module as an example.

The operation principle of the cooling unit provided by the embodiment is as follows:

by setting the number of the compressors 120 to be a plurality, that is, by performing a redundancy design for the compressor 120, which is a relatively important component in the refrigeration system, during the operation of the cooling unit, one of the plurality of compressors 120 can be operated to realize the normal cooling operation of the battery pack. When the running compressor 120 fails and can not normally operate, the standby compressor 120 in the plurality of compressors 120 can participate in the operation, so that the compressor 120 which can not normally operate is replaced, the normal operation of the cooling unit is ensured, and the safety is improved.

In this embodiment, optionally, the refrigerant circulation system 100 includes a refrigerant flow pipeline 101, two parallel branch pipes 110 are disposed on the refrigerant flow pipeline 101, each branch pipe 110 is provided with one compressor 120, and the two compressors 120 are disposed in parallel. For example, the refrigerant flow line 101 has an input pipe 1011 and an output pipe 1012, one end of the input pipe 1011 communicates with one end of the first passage, the other end of the input pipe 1011 and the ends of the two branch pipes 110 are connected by a three-way valve 400, the ends of the two branch pipes 110 far from the input pipe 1011 converge and communicate with one end of the output pipe 1012, the other end of the output pipe 1012 communicates with the dry bottle 130, and the dry bottle 130 communicates with the other end of the first passage.

The output pipe section 1012 is provided with a condenser 160, and the refrigerant cycle system 100 further includes a radiator 150 that is associated with the condenser 160.

It should be noted that the condenser 160 may also be configured as a redundant design, i.e., the number of the condensers 160 may be multiple. Further, in other embodiments, the number of compressors 120 is not limited to two.

Further, a pressure sensor 140 is provided on the input pipe section 1011.

In this embodiment, the heat exchanger 200 may be optionally configured as a plate heat exchanger 200.

In this embodiment, optionally, the cooling liquid circulation system 300 includes a cooling liquid flow pipeline 310, a water pump 330 and a heater 340, and the cooling liquid flow pipeline 310 is communicated with the second channel; the water pump 330 and the heater 340 are both arranged on the refrigerating fluid flow pipeline 310; the water pump 330 is used for driving the cooling fluid to flow in the cooling fluid flow line 310.

The cooling fluid is powered by means of a water pump 330 when it is desired to flow in the cooling fluid flow line 310.

Specifically, in order to improve the reliability of the refrigerating fluid circulation system 300, both the water pump 330 and the heater 340 are designed in a redundant manner, for example, in the present embodiment, the number of the water pumps 330 is two and the heaters 340 are arranged in parallel, and the number of the heaters 340 is three and the heaters 340 are arranged in parallel.

Specifically, the cooling fluid flowing pipeline 310 includes a first main pipeline segment 311, two first branches 312, three second branches 313 and a second main pipeline segment 314, one end of the first main pipeline segment 311 is used for being communicated with a storage cavity of the battery pack, which stores cooling fluid, and one end of the second main pipeline segment 314 is used for being communicated with the storage cavity. Two first branches 312 are connected in parallel, and both ends of each first branch 312 are communicated with first main pipe section 311, for example, one end of each first branch 312 is communicated with first main pipe section 311 through a three-way valve 400, and the other end of each first branch 312 is communicated with first main pipe section 311 through a three-way valve 400. Correspondingly, three second branches 313 may also be connected to the first main pipe 311 by combining a plurality of three-way valves 400. An end of first main tube segment 311 remote from the storage chamber communicates with the second passageway. Both ends of second main tube section 314 communicate with the storage chamber and the second passage, respectively. In the operation process, the operation condition of each water pump 330 and heater 340 can be detected by arranging a monitor, and when the water pump 330 or the heater 340 is damaged, an alarm can be given to remind a user of switching or automatically switching. The monitor and the automatic switching mechanism can adopt the known technology.

In this embodiment, optionally, the cooling fluid circulation system 300 further includes an air cooling pipeline 320, two ends of the air cooling pipeline 320 are respectively communicated with the cooling fluid flow pipeline 310, and pipe sections of the cooling fluid flow pipeline 310 at two ends of the air cooling pipeline 320 are communicated with the second channel. Specifically, one end of the air-cooling pipeline 320 is communicated with the end of the first main pipe section 311, and the heater 340 and the water pump 330 are both located between the position of the first main pipe section 311 communicated with the air-cooling pipeline 320 and the port communicated with the storage cavity. Air-cooling conduit 320 communicates with first main section 311 by means of three-way valve 400, and the other end of air-cooling conduit 320 communicates with second main section 314. Thus, the refrigerant fluid output from the first main pipe section 311 can selectively flow into the second channel to exchange heat with the refrigerant in the first channel, and then flow back to the storage cavity from the second main pipe section 314. Or alternatively, the antifreeze solution flows from the air-cooling pipeline 320 through the radiator 150, enters the second main pipe section 314, and flows back to the storage cavity, and when the antifreeze solution flows from the air-cooling pipeline 320, the antifreeze solution is cooled by the radiator 150 in the external low-temperature environment, so that the operation time of the compressor 120 is effectively reduced, the operation load of the condensing fan is reduced, the redundancy design is indirectly used, and the service lives of the compressor 120 and the condensing fan are prolonged.

The embodiment further provides a thermal management system, which includes a thermal load module 500 and a cooling unit, wherein the thermal load module 500 has a storage cavity for storing a cooling liquid; the cooling fluid circulation system 300 is connected to the storage chamber.

The embodiment also provides an automobile which comprises the thermal management system and is high in safety.

It should be noted that the application objects of the thermal management system may also be base station cooling, data center cooling, and other devices that need to be cooled and heated, and are not limited to thermal management of a battery pack in an automobile.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cooling unit, comprising:

2. The cooling assembly of claim 1, wherein:

the refrigerating fluid circulating system comprises a refrigerating fluid flowing pipeline, a water pump and a heater, and the refrigerating fluid flowing pipeline is communicated with the second channel; the water pump and the heater are both arranged on the refrigerant flowing pipeline; the water pump is used for driving refrigerating fluid to flow in the refrigerating fluid flow pipeline.

3. The cooling assembly of claim 2, wherein:

the quantity of water pump is a plurality of and arranges side by side.

4. The cooling assembly of claim 3, wherein:

a first three-way valve is arranged on the refrigerant flow pipeline, one of two outlets of the first three-way valve is communicated with a first branch pipe, the other of the two outlets of the first three-way valve is communicated with a second branch pipe, and the first branch pipe and the second branch pipe are collected at the end parts far away from the first three-way valve; and the first branch pipe and the second branch pipe are respectively provided with a water pump.

5. The cooling assembly of claim 2, wherein:

the number of the heaters is multiple and the heaters are arranged side by side.

6. The cooling assembly of claim 4, wherein:

and a second three-way valve is arranged on the refrigerant flow pipeline, and two branches of the second three-way valve are respectively provided with a heater.

7. The cooling assembly of claim 2, wherein:

the refrigerating fluid circulating system further comprises an air cooling pipeline, the two ends of the air cooling pipeline are respectively communicated with the refrigerating fluid flowing pipeline, and the refrigerating fluid flowing pipeline is located in pipe sections at the two ends of the air cooling pipeline and communicated with the second channel.

8. The cooling assembly of claim 7, wherein:

and the air cooling pipeline is communicated with the refrigerant flow pipeline through a third three-way valve.

9. A thermal management system, comprising:

a heat load module and the cooling unit of any one of claims 1-8, the heat load module having a storage chamber for storing a chilled liquid; the refrigerating fluid circulating system is communicated with the storage cavity.

10. The thermal management system of claim 9, wherein:

the thermal load module is set as a battery pack module.