KR20220101233A - Cooling module for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cooling module for a vehicle. A main object of the present invention is to provide the cooling module for the vehicle, which can minimize thermal interference between heat exchangers and improve cooling performance and heat management efficiency by improving an arrangement structure of the heat exchangers. In order to achieve an above purpose, the cooling module for the vehicle of the present invention comprises a plurality of heat exchangers in which a heat is exchanged between a cooling fluid passing through the inside and an air passing through surroundings. In addition, the plurality of heat exchangers include: a condenser to which a refrigerant line is connected; and a radiator to which a cooling water line is connected and cooling and dissipating the heat of a cooling water circulating along the cooling water line. The radiator is positioned in front of the condenser.

Description

Cooling module for vehicle

The present invention relates to a cooling module for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a cooling module for a vehicle in which the arrangement structure of heat exchangers is improved so that thermal interference between heat exchangers can be minimized, and cooling performance and thermal management efficiency can be improved will be.

BACKGROUND ART In general, an air conditioner for heating or cooling an interior of a vehicle is mounted. In automobiles, air conditioners provide a comfortable indoor environment by always maintaining the vehicle interior temperature at an appropriate temperature regardless of changes in external temperature.

An air conditioner for a vehicle includes an air conditioner system that circulates a refrigerant. The air conditioner system uses a compressor that compresses a refrigerant, a condenser that condenses and liquefies the refrigerant compressed in the compressor, an expansion valve that expands the refrigerant condensed and liquefied in the condenser, and uses the latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant while evaporating the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve Thus, the evaporator for cooling the air blown into the interior of the vehicle is included as a major component.

In the air conditioner system, in the summer cooling mode, the high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant compressed by the compressor is condensed through the condenser and then circulated back to the compressor through the expansion valve and the evaporator. By discharging into the room, the room is cooled.

Meanwhile, as interest in energy efficiency and environmental pollution issues has recently increased, development of an eco-friendly vehicle that can substantially replace an internal combustion engine vehicle is being made. Eco-friendly vehicles can be divided into electric vehicles (FCEV, BEV) driven by using fuel cells or batteries as power sources, and hybrid vehicles (HEV, PHEV) driven using engines and motors as driving sources. All of these eco-friendly vehicles (xEVs) have in common that they are a motor-driven vehicle and an electrified vehicle that drive a motor with electric power charged in a battery.

In addition, the electric vehicle is equipped with a thermal management system for performing thermal management of the entire vehicle. The thermal management system may be defined as a system in a broad sense including an air conditioner system of an air conditioner, a cooling system using coolant or refrigerant for thermal management and cooling of a power system, and a heat pump system. Here, the cooling system includes components capable of managing heat of the power system by cooling or heating the cooling water circulating in the power system. In addition, the heat pump system is used as an auxiliary heating device in addition to an electric heater (eg, a PTC heater), and is a system configured to recover waste heat from power electronic (PE) parts or batteries and use it for heating.

A known cooling system includes a reservoir tank in which cooling water is stored, an electric water pump that pumps pressure to circulate cooling water, a radiator and a cooling fan for dissipating heat of the cooling water, a chiller for cooling the cooling water, and cooling water for heating the cooling water. A cooling circuit comprising a heater, an electric water pump for pressure feeding of cooling water, valves for controlling the flow of cooling water, and a cooling water line connecting these parts, and controlling the cooling water temperature and cooling water flow of the cooling circuit It consists of a controller that

The cooling system of the electric vehicle controls the temperature of the power electronic component and the battery by circulating the cooling water along a cooling water flow path of a power electronic component for driving the vehicle and a battery supplying operating power to the power electronic component. In addition, if necessary, the cooling system may be configured to separately cool the power electronic component and the battery, or to cool the power electronic component and the battery in an integrated manner. To this end, the cooling system may control the operation of the 3-way valve to control the flow direction of the coolant.

In recent electric vehicles, in order to increase the vehicle's cruising distance and improve fuel efficiency, two radiators are disposed at the front end of the vehicle and a parallel coolant line circulating through each radiator is configured to separate power electronic components and batteries for cooling. cooling systems are being developed.

However, in the known parallel type separate cooling system, two radiators are disposed adjacent to each other, one at the front and one at the rear with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction. Accordingly, there is a disadvantage in that the cooling efficiency of the radiator is not good in a hot region with a high outdoor temperature (eg, an outdoor temperature of 45℃ or higher). In particular, since the air introduced through the front end of the vehicle passes through the front radiator and then passes through the rear radiator, there is a problem in that the cooling efficiency of the radiator located at the rear is greatly reduced. In a heat wave area, the cooling efficiency of the rear radiator is important because the use area of the radiator located in the front is small.

In order to overcome the disadvantage of cooling efficiency in a hot region, it may be considered to increase the flow passage area of the bumper opening through which air flows from the front end of the vehicle or to increase the specifications of the radiator and cooling fan. However, an increase in the bumper opening has a problem of deteriorating fuel efficiency during high-speed driving, and an increase in the specifications of a radiator and a cooling fan may cause an increase in cost and weight.

In addition, the vehicle cooling module is configured to include a plurality of heat exchangers such as a radiator and a condenser and a cooling fan arranged to suck air to the rear of these heat exchangers. There is a problem that occurs. Moreover, the heat exchanger arrangement structure that considers the thermal management temperature of the existing internal combustion engine vehicle is also applied to the electric vehicle as it is, which does not consider the characteristics of the electric vehicle, and is inefficient in cooling power electronic (PE) parts and batteries. This is happening.

Accordingly, the present invention was created to solve the above problems, and the arrangement structure of heat exchangers is improved, so that thermal interference between heat exchangers can be minimized, and cooling performance and thermal management efficiency can be improved for vehicle cooling. The purpose is to provide a module.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle cooling module in which thermal interference can be minimized by optimizing the arrangement of heat exchangers such as a radiator and a condenser in consideration of a cooling fluid thermal management temperature in an electric vehicle.

The object of the present invention is not limited to the object mentioned above, and other objects not mentioned are clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs from the description below (hereinafter referred to as 'person of ordinary skill'). it could be

In order to achieve the above object, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it includes a plurality of heat exchangers in which heat exchange is performed between a cooling fluid flowing along an inner passage and air passing around an outer side, wherein the plurality of heat exchangers are connected to a refrigerant line. Provided is a cooling module for a vehicle, comprising a condenser and a radiator connected to the coolant line to cool and radiate the coolant, wherein the radiator is disposed in front of the condenser.

And the radiator may include: a first radiator to which a first coolant line is connected and cooling and radiating heat of the coolant circulating along the first coolant line; and a second radiator to which a second cooling water line is connected and cooling and radiating heat of the cooling water circulating along the second cooling water line.

In addition, cooling water for cooling power electronic components of the electric vehicle is circulated to the first coolant line and the first radiator, and cooling water for cooling the battery of the electric vehicle may be circulated to the second coolant line and the second radiator. have.

In addition, the power electronic component may include a driving motor of an electric vehicle.

In addition, the power electronic component may further include an inverter for driving and controlling the driving motor, a charger for charging the battery, and a low-voltage DC-DC converter.

In addition, the first radiator and the second radiator may be arranged so as to be positioned above and below the same row.

In addition, a passage direction of the refrigerant inside the condenser may be different from a passage direction of the coolant inside the first radiator and the inside of the second radiator located just in front of the condenser.

In addition, the first radiator may be disposed at the upper side and the second radiator at the lower side.

In addition, the first radiator is disposed at the lower side and the second radiator is located at the upper side, so that the air introduced into the lower side of the cooling module through the bumper opening goes straight and passes through the first radiator, and at the same time flows into the lower side of the cooling module At least a portion of the air is dispersed upward and may be configured to pass through the second radiator.

In addition, the condenser may include: a main area in which the refrigerant inlet is located and having a plurality of branched refrigerant passages so that the refrigerant introduced through the refrigerant inlet can be divided and flow; and a sub-cool region through which a refrigerant cooled by air passes while flowing through the main region.

In addition, a passage direction of the refrigerant in the condenser may be different from a passage direction of the coolant in the first radiator and the second radiator located just in front of the condenser.

In addition, the refrigerant passage direction inside the condenser and the coolant passage direction in the first and second radiators are all set to the left and right horizontal directions, and the refrigerant passage direction in the condenser is located in front of the first radiator And it may be set in a direction opposite to the cooling water passing direction inside the second radiator.

Also, the refrigerant passage direction in the condenser may be set to be perpendicular to the coolant passage direction in the first radiator and the second radiator.

In addition, the refrigerant passage direction inside the condenser and the coolant passage direction inside the first and second radiators are set to one of a horizontal direction and a vertical vertical direction, respectively, based on the vehicle body direction. can

In addition, the coolant passage direction in the first radiator and the second radiator is set in a horizontal direction based on the vehicle body direction, and the coolant passage direction in the condenser can be set in a vertical direction based on the vehicle body direction. have.

In addition, the coolant passage direction in the first radiator and the second radiator is set in a vertical direction with respect to the vehicle body direction, and the coolant passage direction in the condenser can be set in the left and right horizontal directions based on the vehicle body direction. have.

Accordingly, in the vehicle cooling module according to the present invention, the arrangement structure of the heat exchangers is improved, so that thermal interference between the heat exchangers can be minimized, and the cooling performance and thermal management efficiency can be improved.

In particular, in the cooling module for a vehicle according to the present invention, the arrangement structure of heat exchangers such as a radiator and a condenser is optimized in consideration of the thermal management temperature of a cooling fluid in an electric vehicle, so that thermal interference can be minimized.

1 and 2 are views showing a conventional cooling module for a vehicle.
3 is a block diagram illustrating a cooling module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram illustrating a cooling module according to another embodiment of the present invention.
5 to 7 are views illustrating various examples in which the arrangement of the heat exchanger and the direction through which the cooling fluid passes are different in the cooling module according to the embodiment of the present invention.
8 to 11 are views illustrating other various examples in which the arrangement of the heat exchanger and the direction in which the cooling fluid passes are different in the cooling module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Specific structural or functional descriptions presented in the embodiments of the present invention are only exemplified for the purpose of describing embodiments according to the concept of the present invention, and the embodiments according to the concept of the present invention may be implemented in various forms. In addition, it should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein, and it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, terms such as first and/or second may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited to the above terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components, for example, within the scope not departing from the scope of the rights according to the concept of the present invention, the first component may be named as the second component, Similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

When a component is referred to as being “connected” or “connected” to another component, it should be understood that it may be directly connected or connected to the other component, but other components may exist in between. something to do. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “in direct contact with” another element, it should be understood that no other element is present in the middle. Other expressions for describing the relationship between elements, that is, expressions such as "between" and "immediately between" or "adjacent to" and "directly adjacent to", should be interpreted similarly.

Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing the embodiments, and is not intended to limit the present invention. As used herein, the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated in the phrase. As used herein, “comprises” and/or “comprising” means that the stated component, step, operation and/or element is the presence of one or more other components, steps, operations and/or elements. or addition is not excluded.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cooling module for a vehicle in which the arrangement structure of heat exchangers is improved so that thermal interference between heat exchangers can be minimized, and cooling performance and thermal management efficiency can be improved. The cooling module of the embodiment described below may be applied as a cooling module of an electric vehicle.

In order to help the understanding of the present invention, the problems of the conventional cooling module for a vehicle will be described in more detail prior to the description of the embodiment.

1 and 2 are views showing a conventional cooling module for a vehicle. FIG. 1 shows a cooling module including one radiator 2 , and FIG. 2 shows a cooling module including two radiators 3 and 4 .

As shown, the vehicle cooling module is provided for cooling and heat dissipation of the cooling fluid in the vehicle thermal management system, and may be disposed at the front end of the vehicle, and includes a plurality of heat exchangers 1 to 4 and a cooling fan 5 . is comprised of The cooling fan 5 is disposed at the rear of the heat exchangers 1 to 4 and sucks air so that the sucked air can pass through the front heat exchangers.

In the vehicle cooling module, each of the heat exchangers 1 to 4 is provided so that a cooling fluid can flow in the inner passage, and the air sucked by the cooling fan 5 passes around the outside. Accordingly, in each of the heat exchangers 1 to 4 , the cooling fluid is cooled by heat exchange between the cooling fluid passing through the inner passage and the air passing around the outside, and heat of the cooling fluid can be dissipated. That is, while heat is transferred from the high-temperature cooling fluid to the low-temperature air, cooling and heat dissipation of the cooling fluid can be achieved.

In the vehicle cooling module, the plurality of heat exchangers 1 to 4 are heat exchangers that cool the cooling fluid in the thermal management system and allow the cooling fluid to radiate heat. The condenser 1 of the air conditioner system and the radiators 2-4 of the cooling system ) can be included. At this time, the cooling fluid cooled and radiated by air while passing through the condenser 1 is the refrigerant of the air conditioner system, and the cooling fluid cooled and radiated by the air while passing through the radiators 2 to 4 is cooling water for component cooling. The refrigerant of the air conditioner system is cooled while passing through the condenser 1 and is condensed from the gas phase to the liquid phase.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a cooling module including one condenser (COND) 1 and a radiator (RAD) 2 is shown, and the one condenser 1 and radiator 2 are installed at the front end of the vehicle. are placed In addition, the vehicle cooling module may further include a water-cooled condenser 6 that cools and condenses the refrigerant of the air conditioner system through heat exchange with cooling water instead of heat exchange with air.

As shown in FIG. 1 , in the conventional cooling module, the condenser 1 is disposed in front of the radiator 2 . In addition, the conventional cooling module includes a small water-cooled condenser (water-cooled COND) 6, the water-cooled condenser 6 is provided so that the cooling water of the cooling system and the refrigerant of the air conditioner system pass. To this end, as shown in FIG. 1 , both the refrigerant line 9 connected to the condenser 1 (which is an air-cooled condenser) and the coolant line 7a connected to the radiator 2 are connected to the water-cooled condenser 6 .

The water-cooled condenser 6 is a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the coolant and the coolant, and the heat of the coolant is transferred to the coolant so that the coolant can be cooled and condensed. In the water-cooled condenser 6 , the cooling water that has received heat from the refrigerant passes through the radiator 2 , and while passing through the radiator 2 , the heat of the cooling water is released into the air so that the cooling water can be cooled.

FIG. 2 shows a cooling module of a parallel type separate cooling system that separates and cools power electronics (PE) components and batteries. In the parallel-type separate cooling system, two radiators 3, 4 are disposed at the front end of the vehicle, and parallel coolant lines 7 and 8 circulating through each radiator 3, 4 are formed, and power electronic components and batteries are formed. is separated and cooled.

Referring to FIG. 2 , a condenser (COND) (1) is disposed in front, and radiators (LTR, HTR) (3, 4) are disposed behind the condenser (1). At this time, the two radiators 3 and 4 are disposed so as to be adjacent to each other at the front and rear of the condenser 1 in the front and rear direction of the vehicle. In this cooling module, the cooling water lines 7 and 8 are individually connected to the two radiators disposed forward and backward, that is, the first radiator (HTR) 4 and the second radiator (LTR) 3 . Accordingly, heat exchange is made between the outside air and the cooling water sucked by the cooling fan 5 in the first radiator 4 and the second radiator 3, and at this time, the cooling water lines 7 and 8 connected to the respective radiators 3 and 4 are performed. ), the cooling water is cooled as heat is released into the air (outside air) from the circulating cooling water.

In the example of FIG. 2 , the first radiator 4 is disposed behind the second radiator 3 , and thus the condenser 1 , the second radiator 3 , and the first radiator 4 based on the vehicle front-rear direction. The structure is arranged in the order of In the parallel type separate cooling system, depending on the operating temperature (coolant temperature), the first radiator 4 is a high temperature radiator (HTR) that radiates and cools heat by passing a relatively high temperature cooling water. The second radiator 3 is a low temperature radiator (LTR) that radiates and cools heat by passing a relatively low temperature coolant compared to the first radiator 4 .

The first radiator 4, which is a high-temperature radiator (HTR), may be connected to a coolant line 7 for cooling a power electronic (PE) component including a motor for driving a vehicle, that is, a driving motor, and to this, the first radiator ( In 4), cooling and heat dissipation of the cooling water that has cooled the power electronic components may be performed. A coolant line 8 for cooling the battery may be connected to the second radiator 3 which is a low temperature radiator (LTR), and thus, cooling and heat dissipation of the coolant for cooling the battery may be made in the second radiator 3 . In this case, as described above, the second radiator 3 that is a low-temperature radiator may be disposed in front of the first radiator 4 that is a high-temperature radiator.

The water-cooled condenser 6 may also be used in the thermal management system to which the cooling module of FIG. 2 is applied. As shown, the cooling water that has received heat from the refrigerant in the water-cooled condenser 6 is a first radiator (HTR) 4 and Heat is emitted while passing through the second radiator (LTR) (3). The first coolant line 7 connected between the first radiator 4 and the power electronic component, the second coolant line 8 connected between the second radiator 3 and the battery, and the air conditioner system connected to the condenser 1 All of the refrigerant lines 9 are connected to the water-cooled condenser 6, and the heat of the refrigerant in the water-cooled condenser 6 is transferred to the cooling water and then discharged from the first radiator 4 and the second radiator 3.

On the other hand, when explaining the problem, in the case of an internal combustion engine vehicle, the engine coolant temperature (115° C. or less) in the radiators 2 to 4 is generally higher than or similar to the coolant temperature in the condenser 1 (100 to 110° C.) Therefore, it is appropriate in terms of thermal management temperature to arrange the condenser 1 at the front and the radiator 2 at the rear as shown in FIG. 1 .

However, in the electric vehicle, the coolant temperature in the radiator 2 of FIG. 1 and the first radiator 4 and the second radiator 3 of FIG. 2 is lower than the coolant temperature (100 to 110° C.) (eg, the coolant in the first radiator) The temperature is 65°C or less, and the cooling water temperature of the second radiator is 35°C or less). However, in the cooling module of FIGS. 1 and 2 , the condenser 1 through which the cooling fluid (refrigerant of the air conditioning system) of the highest temperature passes during heat exchange with air is disposed at the front, and the radiators 2 to 4 are located behind it. is placing

Accordingly, since the air rising from the condenser 1 in the front passes through the radiators 2 to 4 in the rear, the cooling efficiency in the radiators 2 to 4 is inevitably reduced. Moreover, since the cooling water that has absorbed heat from the refrigerant in the water-cooled condenser 6 flows to the radiators 2 to 4, the cooling load on the radiator is inevitably greater. At this time, if the load on the condenser 1 (that is, the cooling load of the air conditioner system) becomes larger, the amount of thermal interference increases and a vicious cycle occurs in which the cooling load on the radiators 2 to 4 becomes larger.

As a result, it is necessary to improve the arrangement structure of heat exchangers in a cooling module for an electric vehicle to minimize thermal interference between the heat exchangers, while improving cooling performance and thermal management efficiency.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention in which thermal interference is minimized and cooling performance and thermal management efficiency are improved will be described.

3 and 4 are block diagrams illustrating a cooling module according to an embodiment of the present invention, and show an improved arrangement of heat exchangers.

As shown, the first radiator (HTR) 11 and the second radiator (LTR) 12 of the cooling system are disposed at a front position with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction, and the condenser ( COND) 13 is disposed. At this time, the cooling fan 14 is disposed behind the condenser 13 . The first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 are arranged so as to be located at the upper side and the lower side when viewed from the front, and arranged to be located at the upper side and the lower side in the same row when viewed from the side (ie, arranged in a vertical line).

Referring to FIG. 3 , it can be seen that a first radiator 11 that is a high temperature radiator (HTR) is disposed on the upper side, and a second radiator 12 that is a low temperature radiator (HTR) is disposed on the lower side. have. On the other hand, referring to FIG. 4 , contrary to the embodiment of FIG. 3 , it can be seen that the second radiator (LTR) 12 is disposed on the upper side and the first radiator (HTR) 11 is disposed on the lower side.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , a first radiator 11 that is a high temperature radiator (HTR) is disposed on the upper side, and a second radiator 12 that is a low temperature radiator (LTR) may be disposed on the lower side (Fig. see 3). Conversely, as illustrated in FIG. 4 , the second radiator 12 that is a low temperature radiator (LTR) is disposed on the upper side, and the first radiator 11 that is a high temperature radiator (HTR) may be disposed on the lower side.

In addition, in the condenser 13 disposed at the rear, the upper portion is a portion into which the high-temperature refrigerant flows, and the refrigerant temperature is relatively high, and the lower portion of the condenser 13 is the refrigerant cooled by the outside air after passing through the upper portion. As a part discharged to the outside of the condenser, it is a low-temperature region with a relatively low refrigerant temperature. Accordingly, a sub cool zone 13b, which is a relatively low temperature region in the condenser 13, is located at the lower portion. In consideration of this, as shown in FIG. 3, the first radiator (HTR) 11 is placed on the upper side. In this case, it is advantageous to arrange the second radiator (LTR) 12 on the lower side.

That is, comparing the air temperature after passing through the two radiators 11 and 12 to cool the coolant, the temperature of the air passing through the first radiator 11, which is a high temperature radiator (HTR) (eg, 48° C.) is low It is higher than the temperature (eg, 45° C.) of the air that has passed through the second radiator 12 which is the radiator LTR. On the other hand, in the condenser 13 , the refrigerant temperature (eg, 100 to 110° C.) of the main region 13a, which is an upper high-temperature region, is the refrigerant temperature (eg, 50 to 55° C.) of the sub-cool region 13b, which is a lower low-temperature region, in the condenser 13 . ) is much higher than

At this time, when the first radiator 11, which is a high-temperature radiator, is disposed on the lower side so that the air that has passed through the first radiator passes through the sub-cool region 13b of the condenser 13, the temperature of the air (eg, 48 ℃) and A difference between the coolant temperatures (eg, 50 to 55° C.) of the sub-cool region 13b may be reduced. Since the amount of heat dissipated from the first radiator 11, which is a high-temperature radiator, is larger than that of the second radiator 12, the temperature difference between the air passing through the first radiator 11 and the refrigerant in the condenser 13 can be small. there will be As a result, the cooling performance in the sub-cool region 13b of the condenser 13 may be disadvantageous compared to the cooling performance in the main region 13a, which is a high-temperature region.

On the other hand, when the second radiator 12, which is a low-temperature radiator, is disposed on the lower side so that the air passing through the second radiator passes through the sub-cool region 13b of the condenser 13, the second radiator 12 with a small amount of heat dissipation Since the difference between the temperature of the passed air (eg, 45° C.) and the refrigerant temperature (eg, 50 to 55° C.) of the sub-cool region 13b becomes larger, the cooling performance in the sub-cool region 13b becomes more advantageous. can

Of course, when the first radiator (HTR) 11, which is a high-temperature radiator, is disposed on the upper side, the air that has passed through the first radiator 11 with a large amount of heat dissipates through the main region 13a of the condenser 13, The cooling performance in the main region 13a of the condenser 13 may be disadvantageous. However, the refrigerant temperature (eg, 100 ~ 110 ℃) in the main region 13a of the condenser 13 is very high compared to the temperature (eg, 48 ℃) of the air that has passed through the first radiator 11 . Therefore, when compared with the second radiator (LTR) 12 positioned on the upper side, even if the first radiator (HTR) 12 is positioned on the upper side, the effect on the cooling performance in the main region 13a is negligible. It can be on a small level.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, arranging the first radiator 11, which is a high-temperature radiator (HTR), on the upper side, and arranging the second radiator 12, which is a low-temperature radiator (LTR) on the lower side, the first radiator on the lower side In this case, it may be advantageous compared to arranging the second radiator on the upper side.

On the other hand, when the bumper opening (not shown) is located at the lower side in the front end of the vehicle, the opposite may be advantageous. That is, when the bumper opening (not shown) at the front end of the vehicle is located on the lower side, as shown in FIG. 4 , the first radiator 11 which is a high temperature radiator (HTR) is disposed on the lower side, and the second which is a low temperature radiator (LTR) is disposed on the lower side. 2 The embodiment of FIG. 4 in which the radiator 12 is disposed on the upper side is more advantageous compared to the embodiment of FIG. 3 .

When the bumper opening is located below the front end of the vehicle, when outside air flows into the cooling module from the front end of the vehicle, the outside air that has passed through the bumper opening (not shown) at the lower side also flows downward in the cooling module, and then a part of it is is dispersed and passes through the radiators 11 and 12 and the condenser 13. At this time, since the outside air flows in through the bumper opening on the lower side, the outside air (air) also passes through the radiator at a higher speed at the lower side than at the upper side. That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 4 , the flow rate of air passing through the first radiator 11 on the lower side is faster than the flow rate of the air passing through the second radiator 12 on the upper side after being dispersed to the upper side.

Therefore, when the first radiator 11, which is a high-temperature radiator, is disposed on the lower side, and the second radiator 12, which is a low-temperature radiator, is disposed on the upper side, some of the outdoor air introduced to the lower side through the bumper opening goes straight to the first radiator. (11) is passed through the second radiator (12) at a higher speed than the air passing through. In addition, after the rest of the outside air introduced to the lower side is dispersed to the upper side, it passes through the second radiator 12 at a slower speed than the air passing through the first radiator 11 .

This may be advantageous in terms of heat dissipation as compared to the second radiator 12 disposed on the lower side and through which the outside air traveling straight passes through the first radiator 11 , which is disposed upward and through which the outside air dispersed upwards passes. Accordingly, it may be considered that the first radiator 11 through which the relatively high temperature coolant passes and the amount of heat dissipation is large is disposed on the lower side, and the second radiator 12 through which the relatively low temperature coolant flows is disposed on the upper side.

The condenser 13 adopted in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 is a full-face type air-cooled condenser, where 'full face' means that the air introduced through the bumper opening at the front of the vehicle is cooled by the cooling module. When passing through, it means that the condenser 13 is disposed over the entire air passage area, not a part of the air passage area in the cooling module.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, by arranging the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 on the upper side and the lower side, and arranging the full-face type air-cooled condenser 13 at the rear thereof, the first radiator (11) and the second radiator 12 may be individual radiators completely separated from each other structurally. It is also possible to apply a distributed one-piece structure.

That is, the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 that function independently from each other by connecting separate coolant lines (the first coolant line and the second coolant line) to the upper and lower portions of the radiator partitioned by the partition wall, respectively. ) can be configured. In this case, the upper and lower portions of the integral radiator divided by the partition wall serve as independent radiators as the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 .

As the number of columns of the cooling module is reduced in this way, it is possible to minimize air resistance. In addition, by arranging the radiators 11 and 12 at the forefront, the cooling performance in the radiator can be considered as the top priority. That is, the coolant in the radiators 11 and 12 can exchange heat with air at a lower temperature, and the cooling performance (heat dissipation performance) and cooling efficiency of the radiator can be improved.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the first coolant line is connected to the first radiator 11 which is a high temperature radiator (HTR). That is, although not shown in the drawings, the first coolant line is connected between the first reservoir tank, the first electric water pump, and the first radiator 11 , and the front and rear ends of the first radiator 11 in the first coolant line A first bypass line is connected between the positions, and a first valve, which is a 3-way valve, may be installed at a branch point where the first bypass line is branched from the first coolant line. Depending on the opening and closing state of the first valve, the coolant circulating along the first coolant line may be bypassed so as not to pass through the first radiator 11 or may pass through the first radiator 11 .

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, in the first coolant line passing through the first radiator (HTR) 11, a motor driving a vehicle as a first component, that is, among power electronic components, a relatively large amount of heat (heat amount) is required A motor (drive motor) for driving a vehicle having a relatively high coolant temperature may be installed. Here, the motor (the first component) may include a front wheel motor and a rear wheel motor. In addition, an inverter, a charger, and a converter (such as a low-voltage DC-DC converter), which are second components of the power electronic components, may be further installed in the first coolant line. Here, the inverter includes a front-wheel inverter for driving and controlling the front-wheel motor, and a rear-wheel inverter for driving and controlling the rear-wheel motor.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the second coolant line is connected to a second radiator 12 which is a low temperature radiator (LTR). That is, although not shown in the drawings, a second coolant line is connected between the second reservoir tank, the second electric water pump, and the second radiator 12 , and in the second coolant line, between the front end and the rear end position of the second radiator A second bypass line may be connected, and a second valve, which is a 3-way valve, may be installed at a branch point where the second bypass line is branched from the second coolant line. Depending on the opening and closing state of the second valve, the coolant circulating along the second coolant line may be bypassed so as not to pass through the second radiator 12 or may pass through the second radiator 12 .

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, in the second coolant line passing through the second radiator (LTR) 12, as a second component, the amount of heat (heat amount) is relatively small among the batteries, that is, power electronic components, and the required cooling water temperature is relatively low. low battery can be installed. In addition, a heater for warming up the battery and a chiller for cooling the battery may be installed in the second coolant line. Here, the chiller is provided to receive the refrigerant of the air conditioner system to cool the cooling water circulating in the battery. In addition, the inverter, charger, and converter, which are second components, may be installed in the second coolant line instead of the first coolant line.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the refrigerant line of the air conditioner system is connected to the condenser 13, and at this time, the existing water-cooled condenser installed in the refrigerant line, the first cooling water line, and the second cooling water line can be deleted. Of course, a water-cooled condenser can also be installed. In this case, in the water-cooled condenser, heat exchange between the coolant passing through the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 and the refrigerant passing through the condenser 13 is performed.

As described above, the second radiator 12 is a radiator for cooling the battery, and a separate chiller for cooling the battery together with the battery may be further installed in the second coolant line connected to the second radiator 12. In the chiller, heat exchange is made between the refrigerant of the air conditioner system and the coolant, and the coolant cooled by the coolant in the chiller passes through the battery to cool the battery.

Therefore, when the chiller is operated by supplying the refrigerant, the second radiator 12 may be maintained in a no-load state that does not require cooling and heat dissipation of the coolant. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , when the outside air temperature is 45° C., cooling of the battery may be performed only by a chiller using the refrigerant of the air conditioner system. At this time, if the water-cooled condenser is deleted, there is no heat load on the second radiator.

In addition, in the embodiment of Figure 3, when the heat exchange of 3 kW is made between the cooling water and the air in the first radiator 11 for cooling power electronic components, the outside air at 45 ° C. passes through the first radiator 11 The air temperature rises by about 3°C to 48°C. At this time, since the temperature of the refrigerant at the inlet of the condenser 13 is 100 to 110° C., a temperature difference ΔT of 50° C. or more can be secured between the refrigerant and the air in the condenser 13, and accordingly, the refrigerant in the condenser 13 There is no significant effect on cooling and condensation.

In addition, in the embodiment of Fig. 3, since the second radiator 12 without a heat pick up is disposed in front of the sub-cool region 13b, the temperature of the air passing through the second radiator 12 is It can maintain the outside temperature of 45°C. At this time, since the temperature of the refrigerant in the sub-cool region 13b is 50 to 55° C., heat exchange between the refrigerant and the air may be performed even in the sub-cool region.

In addition, in the embodiment of FIG. 3 , assuming that the temperature of the cooling water flowing into the first radiator 11 is 65° C. and the cooling load on the first radiator is 3 kW, the cooling water in the first radiator is ΔT = 20° C. It is possible to cool as much as After all, if the cooling water is cooled by ΔT = 10° C. in the radiator 2 of FIG. 1 and the first radiator 4 of FIG. 2, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the heat dissipation ability in the first radiator 11 is 200% This increase in heat dissipation capability makes it possible to reduce the size of the heat exchangers including the first radiator, reduce fan capacity, reduce cost, and reduce weight.

And the embodiment of FIG. 4 is useful when the bumper opening through which outside air is introduced from the front end of the vehicle is located at the lower side. In the embodiment of Figure 4, as described above, the second radiator 12, which is a low-temperature radiator (LTR) for battery cooling, is disposed on the upper side, and a high-temperature radiator (HTR) for cooling power electronics (PE) components is a first radiator. (11) is arranged on the lower side. At this time, the first radiator 11 is located directly in front of the sub-cool area 13b of the condenser 13 under the cooling module.

In this case, since the outside air passes through the first radiator 11 having a relatively high temperature and then passes through the sub-cool area 13b, the outside air temperature in the sub-cool area 13b is higher than in the third embodiment, but usually Considering that the bumper opening is located on the lower side of the electric vehicle, the speed of the air (outdoor air) passing through the first radiator 11 is faster than the speed of the air passing through the second radiator 12, so in the condenser The decrease in cooling performance is negligible.

Moreover, the first radiator 11, which is a high-temperature radiator (HTR) for cooling power electronic (PE) components such as a motor, is a radiator that operates all the time. That is, the cooling water always passes through the first radiator 11 so that heat dissipation of the cooling water by the first radiator is always made.

On the other hand, the second radiator 12 , which is a low-temperature radiator (LTR) for battery cooling, is a radiator that operates only under mild conditions, that is, a specific outdoor temperature and a low load condition. That is, the cooling water is allowed to pass through the second radiator 12 only under the low load condition so that the heat dissipation of the cooling water by the second radiator is made only under the low load condition, and the cooling water does not flow to the second radiator under the high load condition. In a high load condition, as described above, the battery is cooled through the chiller using the refrigerant of the air conditioner system. Therefore, the embodiment of FIG. 4 in which the first radiator 11 that should always be operated is disposed on the lower side through which the high-flow air can pass may be more advantageous.

In this way, the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 has been described. In the comparative example of FIG. 2 , the condenser 1, the second radiator 3, and the first radiator 4 are arranged in three rows in the front-rear direction in the order Although a furnace cooling module is configured, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 . The number of rows of the radiators 11 and 12 and the condenser 13 is reduced to two rows.

Meanwhile, FIGS. 5 to 7 are views showing various examples in which the direction through which the cooling fluid in each heat exchanger passes is different in the cooling module according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 , the top and bottom arrangement of the first radiator (HTR) 11 and the second radiator (LTR) 12 is the same as the embodiment of FIG. 3 , but in the embodiment of FIG. The flow of the cooling fluid (coolant and refrigerant) and the condenser structure as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 are equally applicable.

First, as shown in FIG. 5 , the first radiator (HTR) 11 has a plurality of coolant passages through which coolant can pass horizontally with respect to the vehicle body direction, and in the interior of the first radiator 11 , The plurality of passages are formed in a parallel-branched structure so that the coolant can be divided side by side and flow horizontally based on the direction of the vehicle body. Referring to FIG. 5 , it can be seen that the coolant introduced into the first radiator 11 flows along the plurality of coolant passages, branching into the plurality of passages, and flowing in parallel.

At this time, the coolant flowing in from the first radiator 11 to the left through the coolant inlet moves horizontally to the right and then discharged to the outside through the coolant outlet. When moving horizontally, it is divided into several branches and flows along the plurality of branched cooling water passages as described above.

On the other hand, the second radiator 12 may have a coolant inlet on the right and a coolant outlet on the left so that the coolant is introduced from the right and the coolant is discharged from the left. At this time, in the second radiator 12, the coolant is introduced to the right, moves horizontally from right to left, and then is discharged from the left to the outside.

As such, the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 may have opposite directions in which the coolant passes. In this case, in the case of the condenser 13 , the direction in which the refrigerant passes in the main region 13a and the sub-cool region 13b may be opposite to each other, and in the main region 13a of the condenser 13 , the first The coolant may pass from right to left opposite to the coolant passage direction (coolant flow direction) of the radiator 11 . At this time, in the sub-cool region 13b of the condenser 13 , the refrigerant may pass from the left to the right opposite to the cooling water passing direction of the second radiator 11 located just in front.

At this time, also in the main region 13a of the condenser 13 , as in the first radiator 11 , a plurality of refrigerant passages branched therein are formed so that the refrigerant is divided into several branches and flows side by side horizontally. Accordingly, the refrigerant is divided into several paths through the refrigerant passage of the branched parallel structure in the condenser 13, and as shown in FIG. 5, in the main area 13a of the condenser 13, the refrigerant moves horizontally from the right to the left. After that, you can let it out. At this time, in the sub-cool area 13b of the condenser 13 , the refrigerant may flow from left to right as opposed to the second radiator 12 immediately in front and the main area 13a at the upper side.

Next, in the embodiment of FIG. 6 , the positions of the main region 13a and the sub-cool region 13b in the condenser 13 are opposite to those of the embodiment of FIG. 3 . That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 6 , the sub-cool region 13b of the condenser 13 is disposed on the upper side, and the main region 13a of the condenser 13 is disposed on the lower side. At this time, the refrigerant passing direction (refrigerant flow direction) in the main region 13a of the condenser 13 is made to be opposite to the cooling water passing direction of the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 . Referring to FIG. 6 , the coolant moves horizontally from left to right in the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 , and the refrigerant in the main region 13a of the condenser 13 horizontally moves from right to left. has been

Next, in the example of FIG. 7 , the refrigerant passing direction in the condenser 13 is perpendicular to the cooling water passing direction of the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 , that is, having a phase of 90° This is an example set to At this time, in the condenser 13 , the main region 13a and the sub-cool region 13b are. Rather than being arranged vertically, they are arranged so as to be located on the sides of each other (left and right lateral arrangements).

In the condenser 13 , the internal refrigerant passage is formed to allow the refrigerant to pass in the vertical direction based on the vehicle body direction. At this time, in the main region 13a of the condenser 13 , the refrigerant may pass from the upper side to the lower side, and in the sub-cool region 13b , the refrigerant may pass from the lower side to the upper side. At this time, the main region 13a has a refrigerant passage of a branched parallel structure.

The first radiator 11 has a cooling water passage of a branched parallel structure that can divide the coolant into several branches and pass them side by side, and the main area 13a of the condenser 13 divides the coolant into several branches and passes them side by side. Having a refrigerant passage of a branched parallel structure is the same in all embodiments.

Meanwhile, FIGS. 8 to 11 are views showing other various examples in which the arrangement of the heat exchanger and the direction in which the cooling fluid passes are different in the cooling module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

All of the above-described embodiments are embodiments in which the first radiator 11 that is a high-temperature radiator (HTR) and the second radiator 12 that is a low-temperature radiator (LTR) are arranged to be located on the upper side and the lower side, respectively, but FIGS. 8 to 11 . In the embodiment of , the first radiator 11 which is a high temperature radiator (HTR) and the second radiator 12 which is a low temperature radiator (LTR) are arranged to be located on the left and right sides, respectively. That is, it is an embodiment of a lateral arrangement structure in which the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 are arranged to be located on the sides of each other rather than the upper and lower arrangement structure.

At this time, in the embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 10 , in the condenser 13 , the main region 13a is disposed on the upper side and the sub-cool region 13b is disposed on the lower side, and in the embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 11 , the condenser ( In 13), the main region 13a is arranged on the lower side and the sub-cool region 13b is arranged on the upper side.

In addition, in all of the embodiments of FIGS. 8 to 11 , the first radiator 11 is disposed on the left side, and the second radiator 12 is disposed on the right side, and in contrast to the illustrated embodiment, the first radiator 11 is disposed on the right side. , the second radiator 12 may be disposed on the left.

In addition, looking at the flow direction (passing direction) of the coolant and the coolant, the coolant passage direction in the radiators 11 and 12 is a right angle direction to the coolant passage direction in the condenser 13, that is, 90°. It is set to have a status.

At this time, in the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 11 , the refrigerant passes horizontally from right to left in the main region 13a of the condenser 13 , and the refrigerant flows through the sub-cool region 13b of the condenser 13 . It passes horizontally from left to right.

In addition, in the embodiment of Figs. 8 and 9, the coolant in the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 12 moves vertically from the lower side to the upper side, and in the embodiment of Figs. 10 and 11, the first radiator ( 11) and the cooling water in the second radiator 12 vertically moves from the upper side to the lower side.

As such, it is possible to make the flow of the coolant in the radiators 11 and 12 have a phase of 90° with respect to the flow of the coolant in the condenser 13 .

In this way, in the cooling module according to the present invention, the first radiator and the second radiator are disposed in front of the condenser so that fresh air introduced from the outside passes directly through the first and second radiators and then passes through the condenser. do. Accordingly, unlike in the conventional cooling module (see FIGS. 1 and 2 ), fresh air that has not passed through the high-temperature condenser can be directly used for cooling the coolant and components in the radiator. Accordingly, heat dissipation performance and component cooling performance in the radiator may be further increased.

In addition, when the water-cooled condenser is eliminated, the cooling load on the first radiator and the second radiator may be further reduced. In addition, in the cooling module according to the present invention, thermal interference between heat exchangers may be minimized, and cooling performance and thermal management efficiency may be improved. As a result, as the cooling capacity is increased compared to the case of applying a heat exchanger of the same size, it is easy to develop a vehicle having a high cooling load characteristic, such as a high-performance electric vehicle. In addition, since the size of the heat exchanger can be reduced compared to the same performance, the effect of cost reduction and weight reduction can be expected.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art using the basic concept of the present invention as defined in the following claims Also included in the scope of the present invention.

11: first radiator (high temperature radiator)
12: second radiator (low temperature radiator)
13: condenser
13a: main area
13b: sub cool zone
14: cooling fan

Claims (16)

A plurality of heat exchangers for heat exchange between the cooling fluid flowing along the inner passage and the air passing around the outer side,
The plurality of heat exchangers includes a condenser to which a refrigerant line is connected, and a radiator to which a cooling water line is connected to cool and radiate the cooling water,
The cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that the radiator is disposed in front of the condenser.
The method according to claim 1,
the radiator
a first radiator to which a first cooling water line is connected and cooling and radiating heat of the cooling water circulating along the first cooling water line; and
and a second radiator to which a second coolant line is connected and to which the coolant circulating along the second coolant line cools and radiates heat.
3. The method according to claim 2,
Cooling water for cooling power electronic components of the electric vehicle is circulated in the first coolant line and the first radiator,
The cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that the coolant for cooling the battery of the electric vehicle circulates in the second coolant line and the second radiator.
4. The method of claim 3,
The power electronic component is a vehicle cooling module, characterized in that it comprises a driving motor of the electric vehicle.
5. The method according to claim 4,
The power electronic component further comprises an inverter for driving and controlling the driving motor, a charger for charging the battery, and a low-voltage DC-DC converter.
3. The method according to claim 2,
The cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that the first radiator and the second radiator are disposed so as to be located on the upper side and the lower side in the same row.
7. The method of claim 6,
The refrigerant passage direction inside the condenser is,
The cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that the cooling water passing directions are different from the inside of the first radiator and the inside of the second radiator located just in front of the condenser.
7. The method of claim 6,
The cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that the first radiator is disposed on the upper side and the second radiator is located on the lower side.
7. The method of claim 6,
The first radiator is disposed at the lower side and the second radiator is located at the upper side, so that the air introduced to the lower side of the cooling module through the bumper opening goes straight and passes through the first radiator, and the air introduced into the lower side of the cooling module At least a portion of the cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that it is dispersed upward to pass through the second radiator.
7. The method of claim 6,
the condenser
a main area in which the refrigerant inlet is located and having a plurality of branched refrigerant passages so that the refrigerant introduced through the refrigerant inlet can be divided and flow; and
and a sub-cool region through which refrigerant cooled by air passes while flowing through the main region.
11. The method of claim 10,
The refrigerant passage direction inside the condenser is,
The cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that the cooling water passing directions are different from the inside of the first radiator and the inside of the second radiator located just in front of the condenser.
11. The method of claim 10,
The refrigerant passing direction inside the condenser and the cooling water passing direction inside the first radiator and the second radiator are all set to the left and right horizontal directions,
The cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that the refrigerant passing direction in the condenser is set to be opposite to the cooling water passing direction in the first radiator and the second radiator located just in front.
11. The method of claim 10,
The cooling module for a vehicle, characterized in that the refrigerant passage direction in the condenser is set to be perpendicular to the coolant passage direction in the first radiator and the second radiator.
14. The method of claim 13,
The refrigerant passage direction inside the condenser and the coolant passage direction inside the first and second radiators are set to a predetermined one of a horizontal horizontal direction and a vertical vertical direction based on the vehicle body direction. automotive cooling module.
15. The method of claim 14,
The cooling water passage direction in the first and second radiators is set in a horizontal direction based on the vehicle body direction, and the refrigerant passage direction in the condenser is set in a vertical direction with respect to the vehicle body direction. Automotive cooling module.
15. The method of claim 14,
The cooling water passage direction in the first and second radiators is set in a vertical direction with respect to the vehicle body direction, and the refrigerant passage direction in the condenser is set in the left and right horizontal directions based on the vehicle body direction. Automotive cooling module.

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