WO2024100438A1

WO2024100438A1 - System and method for cooling an overheated battery in an electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2024100438A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/060873
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tummas Justinussen
Original assignee: Sp/f 28. juni 2000
Priority date: 2022-11-11
Filing date: 2022-11-11
Publication date: 2024-05-16

Abstract

The invention relates to a system (10) and a method for cooling an overheated battery in an electronic device (12). The system comprises a first chamber containing a fluid and a second chamber separate from the first chamber and containing a pressurized medium, such as pressurized gas. The system comprises transfer means (18), such as a tubing, arranged between said first and second chambers, for transferring said gas from said second chamber and into said liquid medium inside said first chamber, whereby said pressurized medium when being transferred from the second chamber to the first chamber, cools the fluid which cools the overheated battery.

Description

System and method for cooling an overheated battery in an electronic device

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a system and a method for cooling down an overheated battery of an electronic device. More specifically, the invention relates to a system and a method where a fluid in a first chamber is cooled down with the flow of a second medium contained as a pressurized medium in a second chamber, whereby the fluid in the first chamber is suitable for cooling down the battery of an electronic device which is overheated or burning.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A technique of cooling down overheated batteries or even burning batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries has not yet been developed successfully. Lithium-ion batteries in laptops, phones, tablets etc. may catch fire or overheat if they have manufacturing errors, have been damaged, orthe controlling and/or monitoring of the battery is not functioning correctly.

A battery, for example in a tablet, catching fire due to the above defined issues, or any other causes, looks like a spontaneous combustion, e.g., like in fuel consumption in vehicles, however, the internal burning process within the battery is called a “thermal runaway” and is different from a normal burning process.

Unlike a normal fire where just one single reaction occurs, a fire in a lithium-ion battery comprises multiple steps. Essentially, an uncontrolled, cascading loop of violent chemical reactions releases a tremendous amount of energy and heat, and as the individual battery cells warm up, energy and heat drives through the rest of the battery in a kind of domino effect.

What makes this worse, is the fact that as the thermal runaway accelerates, the burning battery’s stored energy essentially creates its own fuel (oxides). It’s a chemical fire which does not necessarily need oxygen, thereby making it far harder to extinguish than a normal fire. With the oxides present in the battery cells, temperatures from approx. 180° C causes oxygen to be released in the battery, which reacts with cell components, in particular the electrolyte, which again leads to an exothermic reaction that cannot be stopped in practice, during which the battery burns. The fires emit combustible and harmful gases such as hydrogen fluoride, and thanks to its internal thermal runaway, the fire will not burn out.

A burning or an overheated battery in an electronic device located in specific environments, such as an airplane, constitutes a catastrophic risk of the entire plane catching fire and thus resulting in a disaster.

At present, if an electronic device gets overheated or catches fire on an airplane, the flight personal is instructed to try to cool down the battery by pouring normal drinking water, e.g., from a bottle over the device, however, normal drinking water at room temperature or even from a refrigerator does not have sufficient cooling energy to cool down an overheated or burning battery. Even if the electronic device is submerged into a bucket or bin and filled with drinking water, the amount of water does not have sufficient cooling energy to cool down the battery.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and a method for cooling down the temperature of an overheated or burning battery in an easy, fast, and safe manner.

The above object and advantages, together with numerous other objects and advantages, which will be evident from the description of the present invention, are according to a first aspect of the present invention obtained by:

A system for cooling an overheated battery in an electronic device, the system comprising a first chamber containing a fluid, and a second chamber separate from the first chamber and containing a pressurized medium, such as pressurized gas, the system comprising transfer means, such as a tubing, arranged between the first and second chambers, for transferring the gas from said second chamber and into the liquid medium inside the first chamber.

The system comprises first and second chambers, where the first chamber comprises a fluid in which the electronic device can be submerged. The second chamber comprises a pressurized medium such as a pressurized gas, which via a transfer means such as a tubing, can be injected into the first chamber such that it flows through the fluid. The purpose is to cold cook the fluid with gas suitable for cooling down the fluid. The first chamber is not pressurized, and as the gas within the second chamber is pressurized at a pressure above ambient pressure, such as for example 30 bar or more, the gas expands, or changes phase if kept in liquid phase within the second chamber, whereby the temperature of the injected gas is lowered to an extremely low temperature as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius or lower. Such temperature is achievable for example by the use of a container filled with pressurized CO2, such as a CO2 extinguisher. The known theory of when gas expands or changes phase is that the decrease in pressure causes the molecules to slow down and makes the gas extremely cold with the effect that some of the cooled energy within gas is transferred to the fluid, which hereby is cooled to subzero temperatures.

When an overheated of burning device is located, the device is transported by a person, preferably wearing safety clothing, such as safety gloves, to the system where the electronic device is submerged into the fluid. Before or after the device is submerged into the fluid, the pressurized gas within the second chamber is injected into the fluid, which hereby is cooled and the overheated or burning battery is likewise cooled. The pressurized gas may continuously be injected into the fluid depending on the need.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the fluid is brine.

The fluid is preferable a brine, which is a high concentration of salt (typically sodium chloride) in a liquid such as water. Brine is a salt solution ranging from 3.5% up to approximately 26%, which will typically be a completely saturated solution.

Brine is typically used in the cooking industry, where brine is used to preserve or season foods.

Brine is also used as a secondary fluid in large refrigeration systems for the transport of thermal energy and may also be used for deicing, e.g., the deicing of roads.

An advantage of using brine as the cooling fluid is that the brine is capable of carrying a very large amount of cooling energy into contact with the overheated battery of the electronic device. E.g., when brine is applied at a 23.3% concentration (76.7% water), it will freeze (without any additional dilution) at approximately -21 degrees Celsius. Arranging the brine with a higher salt concentration lowers the freezing temperature to as low as approximately -50 degrees Celsius. In order to increase the maximum lower temperature of the fluid, it may comprise antifreeze agents, such as ethylene or propylene glycerol. Using such agents may lower the freezing temperature of the brine, even below -50 degrees Celsius.

Arranging the fluid as a brine has the effect that the watery solution will not completely freeze when the temperature is lowered, but merely turn into a slushy watery solution.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the pressurized medium is pressurized gas in liquid phase.

The medium contained within the second chamber and the pressure within the second chamber is preferably such that the medium is a pressured gas in liquid phase above ambient pressure. Tests have shown that a gas kept in liquid phase under pressure and which when injected into a fluid such as a brine, experiences the greatest temperature drop compared to a compressed gas still in gas phase, which again provides the optimum cooling effect on the brine. A number of known gasses such as CO2, Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen, halon etc. may be used.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the gas is CO2.

In a preferred embodiment, the pressurized medium is CO2, which is widely used in CO2 fire extinguishers. The technical effect of using compressed CO2 is that it is a well- tested and a cost-efficient solution. Further, using CO2 which contains pure carbon dioxide, which is a clean extinguishant leaving no residue, any health risk is minimized.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the transfer means is in fluid connection with an injection means, such as a nozzle, which extends into a bottom part of the first chamber for injecting the gas into a lower portion of the fluid.

The first chamber comprising the fluid for cooling down the overheated or burning battery comprises an injection means, such as a nozzle, which via the transfer means, such as a tubing, is in communication with the second chamber comprising the pressurized medium. The injection means are preferably arranged at a lower part of the first chamber, such that the injected cold medium flows upwards evenly distributed through the fluid, which is hereby cooled. The injection means may be arranged as an elongated nozzle having a number of openings through which the gas flows into the brine.

The nozzle may, however, be configured having alternative shapes such as spiral, nonstraight, coil-shaped etc. in order to inject the gas into the brine over the largest possible area.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the gas in the second chamber is pressurized at above 30 bar at 20°C, such as between 44-60 bar, preferably approximately 50 bar.

As explained above, the cooling of the gasses is created by the expansion of the gas and the following pressure drop.

Tests have shown that arranging the second chamber with a pressure at above 30 bar at 20°C, such as between 44-60 bar, preferably approximately 50 bar, ensures that the gas, such as CO2, is kept in liquid phase before expansion which provides the most optimum cooling effect.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the first chamber is encapsulated by a housing and the second chamber is encapsulated by a separate container.

The system is preferably arranged such that the first chamber is arranged within a housing, such as a housing having four sides, a top and a bottom. The housing may be manufactured from any suitable material which can cope with the low temperatures of the fluid. The housing may be arranged from a plastic material. In a further embodiment, the walls of the housing may be arranged with a layer of insulation, such as, e.g., 5 mm of foam insulation covered with an outer finishing layer providing the exterior ofthe housing.

The second chamber is preferably arranged as a container, such as a gas canister suitable for storing the gas under high pressure.

The container may be fixed to the housing by removable fastening means, such that the container easily may be changed for service, exchange or refilling. The transfer means, such as a tube, for transferring the gas into the first chamber is preferably connected to the housing or the injection means, such as a nozzle, via releasable coupling means, such that the container and transfer means may easily be disconnected.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the first and the second chamber are encapsulated by a housing.

In another embodiment, the first and the second chamber may both be arranged within the housing but arranged separated. The pressurized gas may still be arranged within a suitable gas canister, which again is arranged within the second chamber within the housing. The gas canister may still be connected to the first chamber via transfer means, such as a tube, but arranging both chambers within the same housing provides a system being compact and easy to transport and store.

In all the described embodiments, the housing may be arranged with one or more handles for easy transport and handling. Further, the housing/first chamber may be arranged with a blow off valve, such as a one-way contra valve, where the gas may leave the housing after the injected gas has travel through the cooled fluid.

The valve preferably has sufficient back pressure to prevent the cooled fluid from leaving the container during storage.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the housing comprises an inlet for inserting the electronic device into the first chamber, the inlet comprising closure means which can be brought from a position where the inlet is closed, and into a position where the inlet into the first chamber is open.

It is preferred that the housing and thus the first chamber is provided with an inlet having closure means, such as a moveable flap, which can be brought from a position where the inlet is closed, and into a position where the inlet into the first chamber is open. It is hereby ensured that the electronic device with the overheated or burning battery can easily be inserted into the cooled fluid, and once inserted/submerged, the closure means is brought back to a closed position, substantially sealing the first chamber from the outside. The closure means may be arranged as a spring-loaded flap brought into the open position by forcing the device through the flap, which automatically biases back to the closed position once the device is submerged into the fluid.

According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the first chamber comprises a supporting means, such as a steel mesh, for supporting the electronic device at a predefined position within the first chamber.

In order to ensure that the electronic device is fully surrounded by a sufficient amount of cooled brine in order to effectively cool down the overheated or burning battery, the electronic device is supported by support means which may be arranged from any suitable material such as plastic or as a steel wire basket. The support means are arranged within the housing at a distance from the bottom and the sides of the housing, whereby the electronic device is supported within the housing at a central position thereof. It is hereby secured that the electronic device, when submerged into the brine, is surrounded by a suitable amount of cooled brine.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the above objects and advantages are obtained by:

A method for cooling an overheated battery in an electronic device, the method comprising the following steps:

• providing a system according to at least any of the embodiments of the first aspect of the invention,

• releasing the pressurized medium from the second chamber into the first chamber,

• during the release, the pressure of the medium drops whereby the medium expands or changes phase, causing the temperature of the medium to cool,

• after the phase change, the released cooled medium causes the fluid within the first chamber to cool,

• inserting the overheated electronic device into the first chamber, whereby the electronic device is cooled by the cooled fluid. The above-defined method provides the solution to the introductory-defined objective problems, namely a method for cooling down the temperature of an overheated or burning battery in an easy, fast, and safe manner.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a system for cooling down an overheated battery.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a system for cooling down an overheated battery.

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. Like elements will thus not be described in detail with respect to the description of each figure.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a system 10 for cooling down an overheated battery of an electronic device 12.

The system 10 comprises a housing 14 encapsulating a chamber having a fluid being brine 32 and having an inlet 20 arranged at an upper end, the inlet 20 being provided with closure means 22, such as a pivotal flap element moveable between a position where the inlet is closed and a position where the inlet is open such that the closure means 22 functions as a hatch.

Next to the closure on the upper part may be arranged a blow off valve 36, such as a one-way contra valve, where the CO2 may leave the housing 12 after the injected CO2 has travel through the brine mass.

The valve 36 preferably has sufficient back pressure to prevent the brine from leaving the container during storage.

The system 10 further comprises a container 16 containing a pressurized gas, such as CO2 or other types of gasses with similar effect. The pressure within the container 16 is such that the CO2 is kept in liquid phase within the container 16. The container 16 is connected via a tube 18 to the bottom of the housing 14 at a lower end thereof, and the tube 18 is connected to a nozzle 28 arranged within the first chamber, and towards to bottom of the first chamber within the housing 14.

The container 16 comprises releasing means 26 illustrated as a split, which upon withdrawal from the releasing mechanism of the container 16 instantly releases the CO2 from the container, via the tube 18 and the nozzle 28 into the lower part of the chamber, and hereby the lower part of the brine within the chamber in the housing 14.

Upon releasing the CO2 from the container 16, the phase of the CO2 changes from liquid to gas phase. The CO2 experiences a huge pressure drop after being released, vaporizes and drops in temperature. Under the vaporization, where some of the CO2 solidifies, the temperature of the CO2 may fall to approximately -70 degrees Celsius.

The extremely cold CO2 is injected directly into the brine, and preferably into the lower part of the brine, which causes the cold CO2 to flow upwards through the brine which during this process is cooled to approximate between -10 and -30 degrees Celsius.

The nozzle is arranged as an elongated nozzle arranged for distributing the CO2 over the majority of the width of the housing, whereby most of the brine is exposed to the CO2.

Within the housing 14, support means 24, preferably a wire mesh, are arranged for supporting the electronic device 12 within the brine and at a distance to the bottom and sides of the chamber in the housing 12. The support means 24, preferably being a steel wire mesh arranged as a basket, is fixed or removably fixed within the housing 14.

In order to ensure that the cooled fluid maintains the cold temperature best possible, the housing 14 may be arranged with a layer of insulation 38. Th layer may either be a finishing outer layer of suitable material, or an intermediate layer, covered with an outer layer. One non-limiting example of an insulation may be 5mm of foamed plastic material.

In order to easily and safely transport the system 10, a handle 30 may be arranged to the housing 14. The container 16 containing the pressurized gas is illustrated being fixed to the housing 14 via fastening means 34, illustrated as straps. The system 10 is hereby being arranged as a single unit for easier transportation.

In an alternative embodiment, the container 16 containing the gas may be incorporated within the housing such that the system may be easily stored and transported.

Upon detection of an overheated battery within an electronic device 12, or even a burning battery of an electronic device 12, the releasing means 26 is withdrawn from the container 16 and the above-described process is executed.

The electronic device 12 is dropped, by a person preferably wearing safety clothing such as safety gloves, through the inlet 20 and into the cooled brine within the housing.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a system 10 for cooling down an overheated battery of an electronic device 12.

The system 10 shown in figure 2 corresponds to the system 10 shown in figure 1. The figure illustrates the electronic device 12 being inserted into the housing 12 through the inlet 20, where the closure means 22, illustrated as a flap, has been deflected by the insertion of the electronic device, and reversed, e.g., via a spring biased flap into the closed position after insertion.

The CO2 stored in the container 16 is shown continuously injected via the tube 18 and injection means 28, shown as a nozzle, into the lower part of the brine within the housing 12, such that the CO2 will travel upwards through the brine, which hereby is continuously cooled, and the excess CO2 escapes out of the housing 12 via the valve 36.

During the process, the injection of CO2 may be terminated by closing off the supply of CO2 into the brine, if necessary.

After insertion of the electronic device 12 into the brine within the housing 14, the electronic device is supported by support means 24 shown as a steel wire basket. The wire basket 24 is arranged within the housing 14 at a distance from the bottom and the sides of the housing 14, whereby the electronic device 12 is supported within the housing 14 at a central position thereof. It is hereby secured that the electronic device 12, when submerged into the brine, is surrounded by a sufficient amount of cooled brine in order to cool the overheated battery.

The system 10 may be arranged such that the housing 12 comprises 8 liters of brine and the container 16 comprises 2 kg of CO2, which is sufficient to cool the brine to approximately between -10 and -20 degrees Celsius.

In the following is given a list of reference signs that are used in the detailed description of the invention and the drawings referred to in the detailed description of the invention.

10 System for cooling an overheated battery

12 Electronic device

14 Housing

16 Container

18 Tube

20 Inlet

22 Closure means

24 Support means

26 Releasing means

28 Injecting means

30 Carrying means

32 Brine

34 Fastening means

36 Blow off valve

38 Insulation

Claims

1 . A system (10) for cooling an overheated battery in an electronic device (12), said system (10) comprising a first chamber containing a fluid, and a second chamber separate from said first chamber and containing a pressurized medium, such as pressurized gas, said system comprising transfer means (18), such as a tubing, arranged between said first and second chambers, for transferring said gas from said second chamber and into said liquid medium inside said first chamber.

2. A system (10) according to claim 1 , said fluid medium being brine.

3. A system (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said pressurized medium being pressurized gas in liquid phase.

4. A system (10) according to claim 3, said gas being CO2.

5. A system (10) according to any of the previous claims, wherein said transfer means (18) is in fluid connection with an injection means (28), such as a nozzle, which extends into a bottom part of said first chamber, for injecting said gas into a lower portion of said fluid.

6. A system (10) according to any of the previous claims, wherein said gas in said second chamber is pressurized at above 30 bar at 20°C, such as between 44-60 bar, preferably approximately 50 bar.

7. A system (10) according to any of the previous claims, said first chamber being encapsulated by a housing (12) and said second chamber being encapsulated by a separate container.

8. A system (10) according to any of claims 1 -7, said first and said second chamber being encapsulated by a housing (12)

9. A system (10) according to any of claims 7-8, said housing comprising an inlet (20) for inserting said electronic device (12) into said first chamber, said inlet comprising closure means (22) which can be brought from a position where the inlet is closed, and into a position where the inlet into the first chamber is open.

10. A system (10) according to any of the previous claims, wherein said first chamber comprises a supporting means, such as a steel mesh, for supporting said electronic device (12) at a predefined position within said first chamber.

1 1 . A method for cooling an overheated battery in an electronic device (12), said method comprising the following steps:

• providing a system (10) according to any of claims 1 -10,

• releasing said pressurized medium from said second chamber into said first chamber,

• during said release, said pressure of said medium drops, whereby said medium expands or changes phase causing said temperature of said medium to cool,

• after said phase change, said released cooled medium causing said fluid within said first chamber to cool,

• inserting said overheated electronic device (12) into said first chamber, whereby said electronic device (12) being cooled by said cooled fluid.