WO2024139215A1 - Liquid cooling pipeline, liquid cooling unit and energy storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

A liquid cooling pipeline (100), a liquid cooling unit and an energy storage device. The liquid cooling pipeline (100) comprises: a pipeline body (10), an impurity outlet being formed in an inner wall of the pipeline; an on-off assembly (20) connected to the impurity outlet and having an on state and an off state; and an impurity collecting container (30) connected to the on-off assembly (20). When the on-off assembly (20) is in the on state, the impurity outlet can be connected to the impurity collecting container (30) by means of the on-off assembly (20), so that impurities in a cooling liquid in the pipeline body (10) fall into the impurity collecting container (30) via the on-off assembly (20) under gravity.

Description

Liquid cooling pipeline, liquid cooling unit and energy storage device

Priority information

This application claims priority and benefits of patent application No. 202211694938.9 filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on December 28, 2022, and the entire text of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the technical field of energy storage equipment, and in particular to a liquid cooling pipeline, a liquid cooling unit and an energy storage device.

Background technique

At present, energy storage devices such as battery packs and battery modules are equipped with liquid cooling units to achieve the purpose of thermal management. The liquid cooling tubes in the liquid cooling unit are usually machined and then welded. During machining, the milling cutter will produce metal chips. The metal chips are easy to adhere to the inner wall of the pipe under the action of the coolant of the milling cutter, and these metal chips cannot be completely removed during the cleaning process. In this way, when the liquid cooling unit is assembled and operated, the circulating coolant and the temperature change environment of thermal expansion and contraction will cause the metal chips to fall off the pipe wall and flow in the liquid cooling pipe with the coolant, which can easily cause the filter element of the liquid cooling unit to be blocked, thereby affecting the cooling and heating effect of the liquid cooling unit. In severe cases, it will cause the coil of the liquid cooling unit to overload and burn out, which greatly reduces the service life of the liquid cooling unit.

Summary of the invention

Based on this, it is necessary to provide a liquid cooling pipe, a liquid cooling unit and an energy storage device, aiming to solve the problem that the filter element in the prior art is prone to clogging, affecting the normal operation and service life of the liquid cooling unit.

In one aspect, the present application provides a liquid cooling pipeline, comprising:

A pipeline body, wherein the inner wall of the pipeline body is provided with a debris discharge port;

An on-off component, the on-off component is connected to the impurity discharge port, and the on-off component has an on state and an off state; and

A debris collecting container, the debris collecting container is connected to the on-off assembly; when the on-off assembly is in a connected state, the on-off assembly can connect the debris discharge port with the debris collecting container, so that impurities in the coolant in the pipeline body fall into the debris collecting container through the on-off assembly under the action of gravity.

The liquid cooling pipe application equipment of the above scheme is used in the liquid cooling unit. When working, the on-off component is in the off state, and the coolant flows in the liquid cooling pipe to cool the battery pack or battery module. Since the coolant flowing in the pipe body is mixed with impurities such as metal chips, the on-off component is switched to the connected state by operating the on-off component, so that the on-off component can connect the impurity discharge port of the pipe body with the impurity collection container. When the metal chips in the coolant flow to the impurity discharge port, they can fall from the impurity discharge port under the action of their own weight and then fall into the impurity collection container, thereby filtering and cleaning the coolant to avoid metal chips from continuously flowing into and accumulating in the filter element of the liquid cooling unit, causing the filter element to be blocked, affecting the cooling and heating effect of the liquid cooling unit, preventing the coil of the liquid cooling unit from being overloaded and burned, and improving the service life of the liquid cooling unit.

The technical solution of this application is further described below:

In one embodiment, the liquid cooling pipe further comprises a baffle plate, which is arranged on the inner wall of the pipe body and is arranged near the downstream edge of the impurity discharge port in the flow direction of the coolant. The baffle plate can form a blocking effect on small and light metal chips, so as to prevent the light and small metal chips from entering the impurity collection port. Inside the container.

In one embodiment, the on-off assembly includes a connecting pipe and an on-off valve, the first pipe end of the connecting pipe is connected to the impurity discharge port, the second pipe end of the connecting pipe is connected to the impurity collection container, the on-off valve is movably arranged on the connecting pipe, and the on-off valve can connect or close the first pipe end and the second pipe end of the connecting pipe. It is convenient to switch the connection state of the on-off assembly, so as to facilitate the regular cleaning and filtration of the coolant, while not affecting the normal operation of the coolant in the liquid cooling unit.

In one embodiment, the on-off valve comprises a valve seat, a valve stem and a valve core, wherein the valve seat is disposed on the connecting pipe, the valve stem is rotatably disposed on the valve seat, and the valve core is mounted on one end of the valve stem and is located inside the connecting pipe;

The valve core is provided with a through hole. In the connected state, the valve stem is in a first rotation position, and the through hole is connected to the tube cavity of the connecting tube; in the closed state, the valve stem is in a second rotation position, and the through hole is blocked by the inner tube wall of the connecting tube. The on-off valve has a simple structure, is convenient for operating to switch the connected state and the closed state of the on-off valve, and improves the working reliability of the on-off valve.

In one embodiment, the inner tube wall of the connecting tube is provided with a guide portion, and the guide portion is arranged between the impurity discharge port and the valve core. The guide portion can prevent metal chips from accumulating on the valve core.

In one embodiment, the guide part is formed into a conical cylinder, the large diameter end of the guide part is opposite to the impurity discharge port, the small diameter end of the guide part is opposite to the through hole when the on-off assembly is in a connected state, and the diameter of the small diameter end of the guide part is not greater than the diameter of the through hole, so as to form a better guiding and moving effect for the metal chips, and ensure that all the metal chips pass through the valve core smoothly.

In one embodiment, the collecting container is provided with a temporary storage tank, the outer tank wall of the temporary storage tank is provided with a first connection part, the inner tube wall of the connecting pipe is provided with a second connection part, and the second connection part is detachably connected to the first connection part. The connection method between the collecting container and the connecting pipe is simple, and the assembly and disassembly are convenient, so that the collecting container can be removed regularly to collect impurities such as metal chips and clean them in a centralized manner.

In one embodiment, the first connection portion is configured as a first thread, the second connection portion is configured as a second thread, and the second thread is threadedly connected with the first thread;

The outer wall of the sundry collecting container is provided with a clamping part for conveniently screwing the sundry collecting container. The screw connection structure can further simplify the installation method of the sundry collecting container and the connecting pipe, with high connection strength and good sealing performance; the clamping part is convenient for applying force to the sundry collecting container, thereby making it easier to loosen and remove the sundry collecting container in a tightened state.

On the other hand, the present application also provides a liquid cooling unit, which includes the liquid cooling pipeline as described above.

In addition, the present application also provides an energy storage device, which includes the liquid cooling unit as described above and a liquid-cooled energy storage unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings constituting a part of the present application are used to provide further understanding of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute improper limitations on the present application.

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the liquid cooling pipeline in the present application when it is in a connected state;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional structural diagram at A-A in Fig. 1;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the structure when the liquid cooling pipeline is in a closed state;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of the B-B position in Fig. 3.

Description of reference numerals:
100, liquid cooling pipe; 10, pipe body; 11, impurity discharge port; 20, on-off assembly; 21, connecting pipe; 211, guide part; 212, second connecting part; 22, valve seat; 23, valve stem; 24, valve core; 241, through hole; 30, impurity collection container; 31, temporary storage tank; 311, first connecting part; 32, holding part; 40, baffle plate.

Detailed ways

In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without violating the connotation of the present application, so the present application is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

As shown in Figures 1 to 4, a liquid cooling pipe 100 is shown in an embodiment of the present application, which includes: a pipe body 10, a switch component 20 and a collection container 30. The interior of the pipe body 10 is used to circulate the coolant (such as cold water, cold oil and other low-temperature, fluid medium). For example, the pipe body 10 can be a round tube, a square tube, etc. It should be noted that the structure shown in Figure 1 is only a section of the pipe body of the liquid cooling pipe 100 in actual use. According to actual needs, one, two or more groups of switch components 20 and collection containers 30 can be installed on a single pipe body 10, but when two or more groups are used, a multi-stage filtering effect on the coolant can be formed.

The inner wall of the pipeline body 10 is provided with a debris discharge port 11; the on-off assembly 20 is connected to the debris discharge port 11, and the on-off assembly 20 has a connected state and a closed state; the debris collecting container 30 is connected to the on-off assembly 20; when the on-off assembly 20 is in the connected state, the on-off assembly 20 can connect the debris discharge port 11 with the debris collecting container 30, so that impurities in the coolant in the pipeline body 10 fall into the debris collecting container 30 through the on-off assembly 20 under the action of gravity.

In summary, the implementation of the technical solution of this embodiment will have the following beneficial effects: the liquid cooling pipe 100 of the above solution is applied to the liquid cooling unit. When working, the on-off assembly 20 is in the off state, and the coolant flows in the liquid cooling pipe 100, thereby cooling the battery pack or battery module. Since the coolant flowing in the pipe body 10 is mixed with impurities such as metal chips, by operating the on-off assembly 20 to switch to the connected state, the on-off assembly 20 can connect the impurity discharge port 11 of the pipe body 10 with the impurity collection container 30. When the metal chips in the coolant flow to the impurity discharge port 11, they can fall from the impurity discharge port 11 under the action of their own weight, and then fall into the impurity collection container 30, thereby achieving the filtering and cleaning of the coolant, so as to avoid the continuous inflow of metal chips into the filter element of the liquid cooling unit, causing the filter element to be blocked, affecting the cooling and heating effect of the liquid cooling unit, preventing the coil of the liquid cooling unit from being overloaded and burned, and improving the service life of the liquid cooling unit.

Generally speaking, the metal chips mixed in the coolant have different sizes. The larger the metal chips, the heavier they are. When they flow to the impurity discharge port 11 with the coolant, they can fall directly from the impurity discharge port 11 and fall into the impurity collection container 30 under their own weight. However, the smaller metal chips, due to their own small weight and the driving effect of the flowing coolant, are difficult to fall into the impurity discharge port 11 under their own weight. Instead, they pass over the impurity discharge port 11 with the coolant and finally flow into the filter element of the liquid cooling unit, causing blockage.

In view of the above problems, in some embodiments, the liquid cooling pipe 100 further includes a baffle plate 40, which is disposed on the inner wall of the pipe body 10, and the baffle plate 40 is located downstream of the coolant flow direction near the impurity discharge port 11. Edge settings.

That is to say, it can be understood that the baffle plate 40 is in the flow path of the light and small metal chips in the lower layer of the coolant flow. Even if the metal chips are carried by the coolant and pass over the impurity discharge port 11, the baffle plate 40 can still form a blocking effect on the small and light metal chips. The metal chips are accumulated on the side of the baffle plate 40 facing the impurity discharge port 11. When a certain amount of metal chips are accumulated, they will fall into the impurity discharge port 11 by themselves, that is, the effect of blocking the light and small metal chips into the impurity collection container 30 is achieved. From another perspective, if the baffle plate 40 is set at the upstream edge position near the impurity discharge port 11 in the flow direction of the coolant, the small and light metal chips will be blocked by the baffle plate 40 at the position where the baffle plate 40 contacts the inner wall of the pipe body 10 before they pass over the impurity discharge port 11. This is not conducive to the discharge of metal chips from the impurity discharge port 11, and fundamentally prevents metal chips from flowing into the filter element of the liquid cooling unit and causing blockage problems.

In other embodiments, a blocking net can be further provided at the downstream edge position in the coolant flow direction near the impurity discharge port 11. The mesh size of the blocking net is preferably set to a size that allows coolant to pass through, but can block metal chips or particles from passing through. The effect of blocking metal chips is more obvious than that of the baffle plate 40. The edge of the blocking net is connected to the inner wall of the pipe body 10.

In some embodiments, the on-off assembly 20 includes a connecting pipe 21 and an on-off valve. The first end of the connecting pipe 21 is connected to the impurity discharge port 11, and the second end of the connecting pipe 21 is connected to the impurity collection container 30. The on-off valve is movably arranged on the connecting pipe 21, and the on-off valve can connect or close the first end and the second end of the connecting pipe 21. The on-off valve is installed on the connecting pipe 21, and the connecting pipe 21 plays a loading and fixing role for the on-off valve, which facilitates the switching of the connection state of the on-off assembly 20, so as to facilitate the regular cleaning and filtration of the coolant, while not affecting the normal participation of the coolant in the operation of the liquid cooling unit.

Please continue to refer to Figures 2 and 4. Specifically, in this embodiment, the connecting pipe 21 is vertically installed below the pipeline body 10. The on-off valve includes a valve seat 22, a valve stem 23 and a valve core 24. The valve seat 22 is arranged on the connecting pipe 21, the valve stem 23 is rotatably arranged on the valve seat 22, and the valve core 24 is installed at one end of the valve stem 23 and is located inside the connecting pipe 21. Among them, the valve seat 22 is also a pipe fitting with two ends passing through, so that the valve stem 23 can be inserted into the valve seat 22 and one end thereof extends into the inside of the connecting pipe 21, so that the valve core 24 can be installed and located inside the connecting pipe 21. In addition, the other end of the valve stem 23 extends to the outside of the valve seat 22 to facilitate the staff to perform the rotation operation.

Furthermore, the valve core 24 is provided with a through hole 241. In the connected state, the valve stem 23 is in a first rotation position, and the through hole 241 is connected to the tube cavity of the connecting tube 21; in the closed state, the valve stem 23 is in a second rotation position, and the through hole 241 is blocked by the inner tube wall of the connecting tube 21. The structure of the on-off valve is simple, and it is convenient to operate and switch the connected state and the closed state of the on-off valve, and improve the working reliability of the on-off valve. It can be understood that the above-mentioned on-off valve can be a ball valve.

It is easy to understand that the maximum diameter of the valve core 24 should be close to the inner diameter of the connecting tube 21, so as to ensure that when the on-off valve is in the off state, the outer wall of the valve core 24 is in close contact with the inner wall of the connecting tube 21 to form a sealing fit to prevent leakage of the coolant.

The diameter of the through hole 241 on the valve core 24 is smaller than the inner diameter of the connecting tube 21. When the valve core 24 is in the maximum open position, that is, the center line of the through hole 241 coincides with the center line of the connecting tube 21, the edge of the valve core 24 will form a recessed space with the closure of the connecting tube 21. The recessed space is prone to hiding metal chips, which can easily cause blockage problems.

Please continue to refer to FIG. 2 . In view of the above problem, in some embodiments, the inner tube wall of the connecting tube 21 is provided with a guide portion 211, and the guide portion 211 is arranged between the debris discharge port 11 and the valve core 24. The guide portion 211 guides the metal chips dropped from the debris discharge port 11 directly into the through hole 241, thereby preventing the metal chips from accumulating at the valve core 24.

Specifically, in some embodiments, the guide portion 211 is formed into a conical cylinder, the large diameter end of the guide portion 211 is opposite to the impurity discharge port 11, the small diameter end of the guide portion 211 is opposite to the through hole 241 of the on-off assembly 20 in the connected state, and the guide portion The diameter of the small diameter end of 211 is not greater than the diameter of the through hole 241. This provides a better guiding effect for the metal chips, ensuring that all the metal chips pass through the valve core 24 smoothly.

In addition, based on any of the above embodiments, the collecting container 30 is provided with a temporary storage tank 31, the outer tank wall of the temporary storage tank 31 is provided with a first connecting portion 311, the inner tube wall of the connecting pipe 21 is provided with a second connecting portion 212, and the second connecting portion 212 is detachably connected to the first connecting portion 311. The connecting method of the collecting container 30 and the connecting pipe 21 is simple, and the assembly and disassembly are convenient, so that the collecting container 30 can be removed regularly to centrally clean the collected impurities such as metal chips.

For example, in this embodiment, the first connection portion 311 is set as a first thread, the second connection portion 212 is set as a second thread, and the second thread is threadedly connected with the first thread; the outer wall of the sundry collecting container 30 is provided with a clamping portion 32 for conveniently screwing the sundry collecting container 30. The screw connection structure can further simplify the installation method of the sundry collecting container 30 and the connecting pipe 21, with high connection strength and good sealing; the clamping portion 32 is convenient for applying force to the sundry collecting container 30, so that it is easier to loosen and remove the sundry collecting container 30 in a tightened state.

Of course, in other embodiments, the first connection portion 311 and the second connection portion 212 may also be connected by any of the following connection methods, such as snap connection, magnetic connection, and bonding, which can be flexibly selected according to actual needs.

The holding portion 32 is specifically a planar notch structure formed on the arc-shaped outer wall of the sundries collecting container 30 by machining such as cutting and milling, so as to be conveniently connected to a tool such as a wrench and thereby effectively twist the sundries collecting container 30 .

In addition to the above, the present application also provides an energy storage device, including a frame, a battery module and a liquid cooling unit. The battery module and the liquid cooling unit are installed on the frame and are interconnected, and the battery module constitutes a liquid-cooled energy storage unit. The liquid cooling unit includes a liquid cooling pipe 100 as described in any of the above embodiments.

The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the invention patent. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

In this application, unless otherwise specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise specified and limited. For technicians, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

In the present application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may mean that the first and second features are in direct contact, or that the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. Moreover, a first feature being "above", "above" or "above" a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being "below", "below" or "below" a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it may be directly on the other element or there may be a central element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be a central element at the same time. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower", "left", "right" and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be the only implementation method.

Claims (10)

1. A liquid cooling pipeline, characterized by comprising:

   A pipeline body, wherein the inner wall of the pipeline body is provided with a debris discharge port;

   An on-off component, the on-off component is connected to the impurity discharge port, and the on-off component has an on state and an off state; and

   A debris collecting container, the debris collecting container is connected to the on-off assembly; when the on-off assembly is in a connected state, the on-off assembly can connect the debris discharge port with the debris collecting container, so that impurities in the coolant in the pipeline body fall into the debris collecting container through the on-off assembly under the action of gravity.
2. The liquid cooling pipe according to claim 1 is characterized in that the liquid cooling pipe also includes a baffle plate, which is arranged on the inner wall of the pipe body, and the baffle plate is arranged near the downstream edge of the impurity discharge port in the flow direction of the coolant.
3. The liquid cooling pipeline according to claim 1 is characterized in that the on-off assembly includes a connecting pipe and an on-off valve, the first pipe end of the connecting pipe is connected to the impurity discharge port, the second pipe end of the connecting pipe is connected to the impurity collecting container, the on-off valve is movably arranged on the connecting pipe, and the on-off valve can connect or close the first pipe end and the second pipe end of the connecting pipe.
4. The liquid cooling pipeline according to claim 3, characterized in that the on-off valve comprises a valve seat, a valve stem and a valve core, the valve seat is arranged on the connecting pipe, the valve stem is rotatably arranged on the valve seat, and the valve core is installed at one end of the valve stem and is located inside the connecting pipe;

   The valve core is provided with a through hole. When in the connected state, the valve stem is in a first rotation position, and the through hole is connected to the tube cavity of the connecting tube; when in the closed state, the valve stem is in a second rotation position, and the through hole is blocked by the inner tube wall of the connecting tube.
5. The liquid cooling pipeline according to claim 4 is characterized in that the inner tube wall of the connecting tube is provided with a guide portion, and the guide portion is arranged between the impurity discharge port and the valve core.
6. The liquid cooling pipe according to claim 5 is characterized in that the guide portion is formed in a conical cylinder shape, the large diameter end of the guide portion is opposite to the impurity discharge port, the small diameter end of the guide portion is opposite to the through hole when the on-off assembly is in a connected state, and the diameter of the small diameter end of the guide portion is not greater than the diameter of the through hole.
7. The liquid cooling pipeline according to claim 1 is characterized in that the miscellaneous container is provided with a temporary storage tank, the outer tank wall of the temporary storage tank is provided with a first connecting portion, the inner tube wall of the connecting pipe is provided with a second connecting portion, and the second connecting portion is detachably connected to the first connecting portion.
8. The liquid cooling pipe according to claim 7, characterized in that the first connecting portion is configured as a first thread, the second connecting portion is configured as a second thread, and the second thread is threadedly adapted to be connected with the first thread;

   The outer wall of the miscellaneous collection container is provided with a clamping portion for conveniently twisting the miscellaneous collection container.
9. A liquid cooling unit, characterized by comprising the liquid cooling pipe as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.
10. An energy storage device, characterized by comprising the liquid cooling unit as described in claim 9 and a liquid-cooled energy storage unit.